Ed Edd n Eddy meet Emma
by lolzwaitwhat
Summary: Ed Edd n Eddy were going to the lake to hang out with their friends, instead they found a girl with no memory of who she is and an army of blood thirsty assassins set out to crush Peach Creek. (spin off of Easymac 120's EEnE Teen Series cause I love it and I want to use his OCs in this.) (ON HIATUS!)
1. Chapter 1

(Author's note: This is an Ed, Edd n' Eddy Teen Series spin off story. The original Teen Series that I am building off of is by Easymac120, so you might want to read his series first or check out his character profiles first before reading. This series takes place in the summer following the Eds graduation from high school)

A young teen in a hooded sweatshirt dashes through the rain, high tops falling into puddles with a splash as it's owner pants and glances behind them, silver wisps of hair slipping from inside the hood and dancing in front of widening eyes. The figure was getting closer, the butcher's knife shined from the flashes of light that erupted in the sky, looking almost as if it was lightning itself, ready to pierce through the teen.

"I'M NOT GOING TO DO WHAT YOU WANT! I'M DONE! I'M OUT!" The teen shrieked, tears sliding down pale cheeks. "I JUST WANT TO BE A NORMAL PERSON, OKAY?"

The teen turned back around only to see that a wooden fence blocked the path. The teen turned around slowly, heart racing, throat closing with fear as the figure chuckled at the teen's dilemma.

"No place to run, huh, Beatrice?" the figure mocked.

"It's Emma!" the teen shrieked, tearing her hood off her head, revealing ivory skin and silver hair, her eyes were ice blue and red from crying. "That's the name my mom wanted for me!"

"Oh, shut up." The figure snapped. And with that, the blade sliced into the girl's skull and she screamed in agony before falling to the ground. The figure scoffed and wiped at it's face, "Friggin' kids." Then kicked the girl's limp body and walked away.

"Well, she's Peach Creek's Police Force's problem now."

The girl moaned and shoved her fist into the pocket of her hoodie as her eyes slowly shut.

That morning, Eddward "Double-D" Hart, did what he always did in the morning; got up. Took a Shower. Brushed his teeth. Brushed his hair. Shaved. Got dressed. Ate breakfast. However, today he packed up a bag with sunscreen, his cell phone, some money, a small first aid kit and a towel and instead of his normal polo shirt and shorts, he wore blue swim trunks and a red tank top. He then headed out to meet his best friends, Edwin "Ed" Christensen and Eddy McGee, who were waiting outside his garage.

"Took 'ya long enough, sock head." Eddy commented as Double-D opened the garage door. Eddy wore his swim trunks and a red, flashy Hawaiian shirt that hung on unbuttoned on his short frame, his brown flip-flops.

"This is going to be FUN!" Ed exclaimed happily. Ed wore a white tank top with his green swim trunks. He was bouncing on his toes with excitement.

Today everyone was meeting up at the lake for a day of fun in the sun, and Ed's excitement was definitely contagious.

"Sorry, fellows, I was packing up a bag for our trip." He apologized.

"What do you need to pack a bag for?" Eddy asked, then a mischievous smile crept up his face, "Oh, I get it _now_." He said, nudging Double-D with his elbow, "Packing a little something special for _Marie_?" he teased. Double-D's face flushed and he nearly dropped his bag.

"I-I have done no such thing!" he declared, stomping down his driveway and up towards the street, Ed and Eddy followed, teasing him.

Double-D walked around a corner and dropped his bag in shock and let out a shout, "ED! EDDY! CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

Less then ten feet in front of him, was a small albino girl, probably no older then twelve years old with a large butcher's knife sticking out of the top of her head. Her clothes were old, worn, torn and stained with dried blood and mud. Her eyes were closed. Ed and Eddy dashed around the corner, "What the hell…" Eddy began but his eyes widened in horror as he looked at the bloody child before them. Ed turned as pale as the girl leaning on the fence and walked back around the corner to vomit.

"EDDY CALL 911!" Double-D called from beside her, Eddy quickly nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket and began dialing, while muttering, "Oh shit. Oh shit! Oh shit!" Double-D carefully put his fingers on her wrist, trying to feel a pulse. Ed glanced back over at the girl, only for his cheeks to puff out and him to return to vomiting.

"Please be alive_." _Double-D begged the child. "Please, please, _please_ be alive."

He felt a small movement under his thumb, she had a pulse! His heart soared with relief.

"SHE'S ALIVE, GUYS! SHE'S ALIVE!"


	2. Chapter 2

The girl woke up groggy and disoriented, her head felt as if someone had chopped it with an axe. She groaned and reached to put her hand on her forehead only to notice the tubes coming out of her arm. She let out a panicked cry and looked about frantically. She was in a hospital, she was hooked up to noisy machines that made her head hurt.

_Why does my head hurt?_ She asked herself. She closed her eyes and concentrated but nothing came. She looked down at her hands, hoping she might find the answer written on her palms. To her surprise she actually _did_ find an answer on her hand. It was written in her left palm in black marker. It said, "My name is Emma." She looked at the four words and scrambled to remember if it was true. Again, she came up with nothing.

"What happened to me?" she asked, finally touching her injured head, only to yelp in pain and looked back down on her hand to find flakes of dried blood. Her stomach began to twist like silly-putty. Tears stung her eyes.

The door opened to let in three teenage boys along with a man in a long white coat with a clipboard in his hands, who she assumed was a doctor. Behind the doctor was a police officer holding a notepad.

She looked closely at the boys, trying to see if any of them looked familiar, but sadly, she didn't recognize any of them.

The tallest one looked at her wearily, he wore a white tank top and green swim trunks and brown flip flops. Next to him was a boy wearing a red tank top, blue swim trunks and what looked like a black sock on his head. He gave her a sympathetic smile, revealing a gap between his two front teeth. The smile wasn't much, but it made her feel a little better. The shortest one wore black swim trunks and a red Hawaiian shirt, his eyebrows were pierced and he had a goatee. He was looking at her as if she was a member of a freak show at a circus.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Eddward Hart," the middle one said, "But everyone calls me Double-D." He indicated the tall guy on his left, "This is Ed." Then pointed to the guy on his right, "And this is Eddy. We're the ones who found you."

"Found me?" she asked, "What do you mean?"

The doctor put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "We're going to need to have a long talk."

"So, let me get this straight." She began, "So you found me out cold leaning against a fence with a _butcher's knife_ stuck in my _head_."

"Yes." Double-D confirmed.

"It was nasty." Ed commented.

"Well, at least that explains my headache." She said.

"Do you remember what happened?" the police officer asked her.

"Nope. Nothing." She said, "I tried remembering what happened when I woke up but all I got was a headache."

"Oh, well. What's your name, girl?"

"My name?" she looked down at her palm, and showed them, "According to my hand, my name is Emma."

"Why would you write your name on your hand?" Eddy asked.

"I have no idea."

"You don't remember anything else?" Double-D asked. 'Emma' shook her head, "Sorry."

"Well, I'll write a report and check any missing persons cases for any albino pre-teens." The officer said, writing something down in a notebook and leaving.

"Wait, I'm albino?" She exclaimed, inspecting her pale white body, "wait, what's albino mean?"

"An albino is someone who was born without any pigment in their skin."

"So that's why she's so pale?" Eddy asked.

"Exactly."

"So she's not a ghost?" Ed asked. Eddy and Double-D both face-palm, 'Emma' simply looks at him with concern and asks, "Are you sure he doesn't have a head injury too?"

"Nope." Eddy said with a sigh, "That's just Ed."

"Eddward?" a thin man and woman with black hair rush in, both looking concerned.

"Mother? Father?" Double-D manages to say before they rush to embrace him.

"Thank Goodness you're all right!" his mother exclaims.

"Of course I am. What would make you think otherwise?"

"Edwin?" Another woman calls, a woman with blonde hair dashes in with a red haired man and a young red haired girl (cough cough SARAH cough cough) The woman grabs him by the shoulder and begins to shake him "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mom." Ed replies, confused.

"Eddy!" Another blonde woman along with the largest man 'Emma' had ever seen run in and inspect Eddy. "What happened?"

"Okay, I'm confused." Emma says, cradling her aching head in her hands.

"We all got a call that you three were in the hospital." Eddy's mom explains, "So what happened?"

"These boys saved this girl's life." The doctor announced patting the boys on the back, "They found this girl half alive with a butcher's knife in her head on the street and called 911."

The parents and Sarah look at 'Emma'.

"Um… hi?" she greets them, "I'm Emma, I think?"

A week later, 'Emma' is discharged from the Peach Creek Hospital and into Phoebe and Morgan Hart's custody, at Double-D's request. After a very in-depth tour of the house and a lengthy list of the rules of the house, they finally make it to the last room of the house.

"Here we are!" Double-D announces once they reach the guest room, "Your room!" Emma looks around the mostly empty room. The walls are bare except for a single painting of pears, a twin bed with pears on the covers and on the throw pillows. The dresser is a pale green as well as the vanity. The window looks out onto the cul-de-sac where Zoe, Kevin, Jimmy and Sarah are hanging out on Jimmy's lawn.

She admires the room with a small smile, until she sees her reflection in the vanity's mirror. On her forehead and up into her hairline is bandaged from the butcher's knife she took to the head, she frowns when she sees it and she tries to cover it with her hair, but fails. Double-D sees this and slips out of the room and grabs one of his spare hats and places it over her head, hiding her bandage!

She looks in the mirror, then turns and smiles at him, "Thanks Double-D!" she reaches out to give him a hug, but stops herself, confused as to why she stopped. Double-D shakes his head and shakes her hand.

"You're very welcome, Emma." He motions towards the window, "You ready to meet your new neighbors?"

"As ready as I can be."

"I'll take it."

(Author's note: okay, I said that it's a spin off of Easymac120's EEnE fan fic, and it is. I just needed to establish Emma's memory loss problem first for plot reasons, don't worry, everyone else will come in soon, I just needed to get this part done. M'kkkkaaayy? Zoe is in the next part so you know it will be awesome.)


	3. Chapter 3

Double-D and Emma walk to the front door.

"Are you sure I can make friends, Double-D?"

"Sure you can! The kids around here are really nice and…" The front door slams opens and smacks Double-D against the wall.

"Hiya, Dreamboat!" Marie calls, then looks down at a shocked Emma.

"Where's Double-D?" she asks.

"Behind the door." Emma squeaks. Marie, slips inside and opens the door to reveal a crushed Double-D.

"OMIGOSH!" Marie cries, "ARE YOU ALRIGHT, DOUBLE-D?" she asks, helping him up.

"Don't worry, Marie," he said, smiling weakly, "I'm okay… no fractures at least…" he looks at Emma, "Marie, meet Emma, she's staying here until we find her family. Emma, this is Marie," he turns pink, "My girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Emma greets, holding out her hand.

"Likewise, pasty." Marie replies, shaking it, "I'm digging your matching look." She giggles. Emma looks up at the hat Double-D gave her and pulled it further down her head, "Thank you, Marie…" she looks at Marie and Double-D then rubs the back of her head, "Well, I'm going to introduce myself to the neighborhood, Double-D, you stay here with your girlfriend, okay?" Double-D opens his mouth to reply, but Marie replies in his place with an "Okay, have fun, Emma!" Emma flees as Marie turns to Double-D and says "Come on, Muffin, let's have some _FUN_!" Emma increases her pace until she is safely out of the house and then slams the door behind her. She then looks out to see Kyle singing and playing his guitar for Sarah, Jimmy and Zoe. She begins to shake nervously, then grabs the sides of the hat and walks toward them, her legs feeling like Jell-O.

Kyle finishes the song and the others applaud.

"That was great!" Sarah cheers.

"Thanks, Sarah." He then notices Emma slowly approaching them, hands gripping her hat and her legs shaking. "Hey!" he calls with a wave. Emma freezes in her tracks, unsure at first what to do, then gives them a nervous smile and a small wave.

"Who's the new kid?" Zoe asks.

"She's the kid who got stabbed in the head." Sarah replies curtly, turning her head in the opposite direction.

"SERIOUSLY?" Zoe exclaims, her eyes wide with excitement, "Most _WICKED_!" She dashes up to her and puts her face barely an inch away from Emma's. "So you're the one who got a Butcher's knife to the face?"

"Um… Yeah, I guess so…"

"You guess so?"

"I don't remember anything about it." Emma admits, pulling her hat further down her head, "I don't really remember anything at all to be honest…"

"So you have ammonia?" Zoe asks, her eyes sparkling with glee.

"I think you mean amnesia." Emma corrects.

"Wow, you not only have the same hat as Double D, but you talk like him too."

"Well, I've spent the most time with him so far, so I guess I just picked it up."

"The hat?"

"No, he gave me the hat."

"Why?"

"Because… of reasons… that I can't think of right now… Um, anyway…" she holds out her hand, "I'm Emma. What's your name?" Zoe takes it and drags her towards the others. "I'm Zoe!" She points to Kyle, "That's Kyle," she points to Sarah, "That's Sarah," then she points to Jimmy, "That's Jim Jim," she pulls Emma's face towards hers, "and he's _MINE!_"

"Okay, Duly noted!" Emma cries, nervously tugging on her hat with her free hand since Zoe's still holding on to one. Kyle gets up and shakes her hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Jimmy then gets up and shakes her hand, "Welcome to the neighborhood, Emma."

"Thanks, uh…" she stifles a snort, "Jim Jim?" He blushes, "Only Zoe calls me that, you can call me Jimmy."

"Thanks, Jimmy." She holds her hand out to Sarah, but gets snubbed.

"Pleasure meeting you too." She replies, then looks down to see that Zoe is still holding her hand. "Uh, Zoe, can I have my hand back?"

"Not until I see if that hat makes the wearer act like Double-D" she says, reaching for it, Emma leans backwards to dodge her hand, "Then you're going to be holding my hand _all_ day, 'cause this hat is _not_ leaving my head." Zoe tries several more times with Emma dodging each time.

Zoe then releases her hand and slaps her on the back, "I like this one!" she announces, then reaches for the hat only for Emma, to everyone's surprise, grab her hand before she got the hat, after realizing what just happened, she lets go of Zoe's arm. Zoe smiles deviously, "You're good!" She then pulls Emma into a side hug, "I think you and I are going to be the best of friends!"

"Oh, boy." Jimmy sighs.

"Great, now there are two of them." Sarah groans.

"Emma, have you met anyone else?" Kyle asks her.

"Um… Well, I met Ed, Double-D, and Eddy and Double-D's girlfriend Marie." Sarah stiffens at the last one.

"Come on, we'll introduce you to everyone else and show you around." He shifts his guitar so it's strapped to his back and motions to them to follow. The four of them follow, with Jimmy right behind Kyle, Zoe behind Jimmy, staring at his ass while dragging Emma behind her by the arm, and Sarah bringing up the rear, muttering angrily to herself.

"What's with her?" Emma asks Zoe. Zoe shrugs, "It's Sarah. She's always got a bug up her ass about something." Emma glances back at Sarah who growls at her.

"You sure it's not a stick?" she whispers to Zoe. Zoe laughs, "Yup, we're going to be best friends alright." She pats her on the back, "Best friends."


	4. Chapter 4

Paul, Kevin and Eddy flip through triple x magazines and chat on Paul's front step, then quickly hide them behind their backs when Nazz and Jenna run by, smiling and waving as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Once the girls were out of sight, they pulled them back out again.

"So Paul, how's things with Rachel?" Kevin asked, pretending to look at the pictures instead of his doo-rag wearing pal beside him.

"Me and Ray Ray are tight." He replies, not looking at Kevin, "Hey McMoney, what happened to you guys last week? I heard you were in the hospital with DD and Armpit." He said, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, man, you won't believe what happened…"

Kyle led them to a small farm, where Rolf was shoveling out slop for the pigs.

"Hey Rolf! Come over here! We've got someone we want you to meet!" Kyle shouted with a wave. Rolf stopped shoveling and stomped his shovel into the slop and walked over to the edge of the fence.

"Hello, Beach-bum Kyle boy! For what is it that you called the Son of a Sheppard?"

"Rolf, meet Emma, she just moved here." Kyle explained as Zoe pushed Emma closer to the fence.

"Um, Hi." She says, reaching out her hand nervously. Rolf looks at it for a moment and shakes it vigorously. "It is nice to meet you, Pale as a Sheep's Fleece Emma girl." He greeted cheerfully then noticed her hat, "Why do you wear a sock on your head like Double-D Ed boy?"

"He gave me his spare." She said, pulling it down further over her head.

"Oooh?" Rolf says, then looked at her very closely, then smiled knowingly and patted her on the head. "I see, well then, it was nice meeting you, White as a Turnip Emma girl, but the Son of a Sheppard has work to be done." He turns and walks back to his shovel, then shouts, "Looney Bin Zoe girl! Stay out of Rolf's crops or he will give you a three shoe beating!" Zoe is shown two feet away from the nearest row of crops on her tip toes.

"Dammit!" she pouts and walked back to the others.

"Bye Rolf!" Emma said with a wave as Zoe grabbed the top of her hat and pulled her towards their next destination behind Kyle and Jimmy. Sarah pouting behind them.

"Are you serious!" Paul exclaimed, ignoring the magazine in his hand, "The kid had a knife in her head?"

"It was a big one, like the kind a butcher uses."

"That's sick, man." Kevin commented, the magazine laid open on his knees.

"How is that kid still _alive_?" Paul asked, closing the magazine and putting it down next to him.

"Apparently the knife wound wasn't deep enough to kill her, the doctor thinks she smacked the back of her head really hard into the fence to lessen the damage or something. She lost her memory though."

"That's gotta suck." Kevin said, closing his magazine.

"Yeah, the weird thing, though, is that someone wrote 'My name is Emma' on her hand. As if someone _knew_ this was going to happen."

"Maybe _she_ wrote it." Kevin speculated, "I mean, if it said 'your name' or 'her name' then it'd make more sense that someone else wrote it, but it said '_my_ name'. Unless the person who stabbed her wrote _their_ name on her hand (which would be really stupid), then it makes sense that she wrote it."

"So you mean," Paul gulped, "That kid knew she'd lose her memory? Or… that she knew that someone was trying to kill her?"

The three boys sat in a chilling silence.

"HEY GUYS!" They looked up to see Kyle and the gang run up to them. They quickly hid the magazines under the welcome mat and tried to play it cool.

"Hey 'Zeph!" Paul says with a wave, "Sup?"

"Meet the new kid," he says, taking a step to the left and Jimmy taking one to the right to reveal Zoe hugging Emma's shoulders and Sarah sulking behind them.

"Meet my new BFF Emma!" Zoe shouted, excitement radiating off her body.

"Woah!" Paul and Kevin cried in unison, shocked at the girl's appearance.

"Hey Eddy." Emma said meekly.

"Hey Em." He said, "What's with the hat?"

"Double-D gave me a spare, for…" she pointed to her forehead. Eddy nodded, "Got it." He then turned to his friends, "This is Kevin," he said, pointing to him with his thumb.

"Nice to meet you." Emma said, holding out her hand for a handshake.

"Yeah, likewise." He said, keeping his hands to himself. Paul then grabbed her hand and made it into a fist and fist bumped her, "Hey, girl, I'm Paul. But you can call me Mista P, if you want." He said with a smile. "So hey, I have a nickname for everyone here in this hood, so instead of calling you Emma, you mind if I give you a nickname?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Sweet." He said, "So where do you live?"

"I'm staying with Double-D and his family for the time being."

"So you're staying with DD?" he thought about it for a minute before snapping his fingers and saying, "Okay then, I'm gonna call you MM."

"Why MM?"

"Because you got two M's in your name, just like Double-D's got two D's in his."

"I like it!" Zoe exclaimed. Jimmy and Kyle nod in agreement.

"I do too," she turns to Sarah, "What do you think?" Sarah turns away, annoyed.

"What's her problem?" Eddy asked them.

"She's been like this since I finished playing earlier." Kyle tells them, "When Emma came over to meet us."

"Is that so? Is someone jealous?" came a voice from behind them, making them jump, Jenna, Nazz and Jonny (who is holding Plank) were standing behind Sarah, who had been so surprised that she fell over.

"Are you okay, Sarah?" Jimmy asked, helping her up.

"I'm fine." She mutters back.

"And who is this?" Jenna asks them.

"This is Emma." Kyle informs them.

"I'm Jenna."

"I'm Nazz."

"I'm Jonny and this is Plank."

"Nice to meet you all." Emma said, shaking their hands but stopping at Plank.

"Um, I'm going to guess you're not the handshaking kind of… wood." Emma said, trying to not feel crazy for introducing herself to a wood board with a smiley face on it.

"So you're the new girl?" Jenna looks Emma up and down and asks her, "What are you wearing?"

"Geez! It's just a hat, people! It's not an alien parasite or anything!" Emma cried, pulling her hat down further over her head again.

"Not your hat, Emma, your clothes. Where did you get those, a garbage can?"

Emma looked down, confused, "These are the clothes I was found in, Double-D washed and repaired them for me."

"What about your other clothes?"

"What other clothes?" Emma asked, completely serious.

"What else are you going to wear?"

Emma thought about that for a second then said, "Crap, I didn't think about that." Her eyes widened and she quickly covered her mouth. "Oh no, I swore."

"So you swore, so what?" Kevin said, confused.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hart don't allow swearing! It's one of the biggest rules in their house and I broke it." She looked at all of them pitifully, "Please don't tell! She begged.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you're not allowed to swear at _all_?" Eddy asked, trying not to laugh, Emma nodded.

"Don't worry, Emma, we won't tell." Nazz promised, "Right everyone?" Everyone but Zoe nods.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Zoe said, "I swear all the time and I never get in trouble."

"Then, how about next time I want to swear, I'll let you know so you can do it for me." Emma suggests, "We could even make up a code."

"A secret code for swearing?" Zoe smiles then shouts, "MOST WICKED! I'M SO IN!" Then hugs Emma, "I knew you were BFF material!" she says with a laugh. Everyone else chuckles too.

A pick up truck stops in front of Paul's house with Ed and May sitting in the cargo space while Lee and Rachel are sitting up front.

"Hey Ed!" Eddy called, "Come here and say hi to Emma." Ed looked at her, concerned, but hopped out of the back, then helped May out, kissing her nose as he placed her on the ground.

"How are you feeling?" Ed asked.

"Like I don't have a knife in my head anymore." Emma replied with a smile. Ed smiled back, then turned to May and said, "May this is Emma, she's staying with Double-D for a while, Emma, this is my girlfriend, May."

"Nice to meet you." She said, holding out her hand. May gives her a big hug, "I'm more of a hugger then a hand shaker."

"Duly noted." Emma replied. Rachel and Lee came out and introduced themselves.

"So you and May are sisters?" Emma asked Lee.

"We have another sister, Marie."

"Oh! I met her earlier when she came to the house."

"You did?"

"Yeah, she accidently smacked Double-D in the face with the front door." Everyone cracks up at that.

"Well, that's everyone." Kyle informed her.

"Welcome to Peach Creek, MM." Paul chuckled, patting her on the back, "You're gonna love it here."

A dark figure lounges on a thrown fitted with bones, four more figures stand, two on either side of the throne. The figure that stabbed Emma is brought by two other figures then thrown onto a black carpet. The seated figure tosses a picture on the floor in front of him. It's a photo of Emma (not a smiling picture, more like a mug shot) with the name "General Beatrice" underneath flutters down onto the floor.

"You failed." The dark figure said simply.

"How did I fail, Headmaster? I stabbed her in _the face_! I watched her _die.._."

"She lives." The figure replied in a bored, slightly annoyed tone. "You failed to kill an unarmed twelve year old girl." He clicked his tongue against his teeth, "Honestly, with your reputation and your resume, this should've been laughably easy…"

The one who stabbed Emma bows to the figure, "Headmaster, I…"

"You not only failed to kill her, but you failed to kill that girl in the town we have chosen for the game and _now she roams its streets freely_."

"I…"

"I am _done_ listening to your pitiful excuses." The figure tells him, "Professor, we are no longer in need of your services."

"No, no _please._" The one who stabbed Emma was dragged away, screaming and begging for mercy until a door closed, stopping any noise from entering the throne.

"_Pathetic_." The figure sighed.

"Headmaster." A female Russian voice came from beside him, "What about the traitor?"

"It's fine." (The camera pans to the photo and zooms in) "After all, what fun is a game if all the players are on one side?"


	5. Chapter 5

That night, Double-D and Emma were brushing their teeth before they go to bed. Mrs. Hart left a note next to a pink toothbrush (still in the package) with a note that said "Remember to floss, Emma!" followed by the classic heart and the word Mom. Emma, who couldn't remember her own mother nor any show of a mother's affection, was so touched that she had placed it next to the mirror on her vanity. Double-D wore a red t-shirt and red and black flannel pants and black socks while Emma wore an old nightgown of Mrs. Hart's that Emma had duct taped to fit her small frame and to shorten the spaghetti straps and thanks to some help from Double D, a new bandage adorned her head.

"So Emma, did you make any friends?" Double-D asked, his mouth full of foamy toothpaste.

Emma nods and grabs a new paper cup filled with water then gargles and spits into the sink, "Uh-huh. This girl, Zoe, declared me her new best friend and BFF." She looks up at Double-D, a little embarrassed, "Hey Double-D, what's BFF mean?"

"BFF is an acronym, Emma." Double-D corrected, "It _stands_ for 'Best Friend Forever.'"

"Duly noted." She said, "I can ask another question?"

"Of course you can." He replied, picking up his own cup and begins to gargle.

"That guy, Jonny, is he… alright in the head?" Double-D chokes and sprays toothpaste water all over the mirror and begins to cough.

"Are you okay?" she asked, patting him on the back.

"I'm fine, thank you." He finally said, then pulled a spray bottle and paper towels from behind the toilet and began to clean the mirror. "Why do you ask that?"

"Cause he talks to a piece of wood as if it's a person." She said plainly, as if it was obvious. (because, frankly, it was)

"You mean Plank?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, that's the only piece of wood he talks to, right?" she looked at him, concerned, "Plank _is_ the only piece of wood Jonny talks to, right?"

"Jonny talks to lots of things," Double-D replied vaguely, wiping the mirror clean, "But he is completely sane, I assure you."

"Consider me assured." She said, "You need some help with that?" she asked him indicating the messy mirror.

"No thank you, but thank you for asking." He said, "So who else did you meet today?"

"Well, there's Zoe, Jonny, and Plank. I also met Kyle, Jimmy, Sarah, Kevin, Paul, Nazz, Jenna, Rolf, Rachel… Oh! I also met Marie's sisters, May and Lee." Emma told him. "I even saw Ed and Eddy! Everyone's really nice, but I think Sarah doesn't like me."

"Why would you think that?" he asked, putting the paper towels and spray bottle back behind the toilet since the mirror was all clean.

"She refused to look or talk to me all day." Emma explained, Double-D frowned at that, "But it's okay!" She assured him, "I still made friends and Paul gave me a nick name."

"Oh, what is it?"

"MM" she said with a smile, "Since I'm staying with you and you have two Ds in your name and I have two M's in mine."

"Clever!"

"Yeah! And the other girls and Jimmy are taking me shopping tomorrow for new clothes," She looked at him sheepishly, "Can I ask Marie to come too?"

"Why of course you can!" Double-D said, "Why would you ask me that?"

"Well, I didn't know if you two already had plans or anything…" He pats her on the head, "I'll give her a call," he said, "Good night Emma."

"Good night, Double-D." she said, and with that, they both walked to their rooms. Emma crawled into bed and closed her eyes.

"Tomorrow will be fun." She told herself, but despite her excitement, she had a nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen.

At 1:00AM, Double-D was awoken by a soft voice, "no…please…stop…" He listened for a few seconds, to ensure that he wasn't hearing things.

"Please…" the voice was a bit louder now, "I beg of you, please, I'll do anything…"

"Emma?" He slipped out of bed, a hundred horrors that could be happening to the girl flashed through his mind. He glanced around his room, looking for some sort of weapon, he dashed around his room before finally settling on a heavy psychology book from his shelf. He dashed into the guest room, panic gripping his throat.

After seeing that girl and the bandage on her head, he instantly remembered his own time in the hospital after he received the scar he had been hiding with _his_ hat. He remembered waking up, groggy and uncomfortable, head hurting like crazy. He remembered his parents crying and hugging and kissing him, thanking God that their son was alive. And he remembered the first time he saw what his head looked beneath the bandages. He had fainted. The second time he saw it, he cried until he threw up. His mother gave him his hat to hide it from the other kids so he could go to school without anyone bothering him about it. But the local school bully ripped the hat off his hat within the first ten minutes of school and the other kids immediately ostracized him because of it. His parents then decided to move to Peach Creek, where he had a fresh start.

When he saw Emma in that hospital bed, confused and alone, he instantly sympathized and asked his parents if they could take her in until her family was found. And to be honest, he always had wanted a sibling. Even though he had Ed, Eddy and the others growing up, he always felt a little sad going home to an empty house.

Now Emma was begging someone to stop doing something. He walked to the door and threw open the door, the book raised over his head, ready to crash down on anyone who dare harm a member of his household only to see that, besides Emma, no one was there.

"Please!" she said, tears slipping down her cheeks and soaking into her pillow, "Stop hurting them! Please! I'm begging you!"

Emma was talking in her sleep, tossing and turning uncomfortably.

"No, please! Leave them alone! PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING JUST PLEASE DON'T HURT THEM!" she cried. "THE HARTS ARE INNOCENT IN THIS!" Double-D's blood turned cold as she flopped frantically in her bed, finally waking up and screaming, "NOOOOO!"

Double-D put the book on her drawers and calmed the hysterical girl down, "Everything's okay, Emma! You just had a bad dream!" he told her. She finally calmed down then looked at him, panic dissolving into tearful relief, "Double-DDDDeeeeee!" she cried, hugging him and sobbing into his chest. Double-D patted her on the back and comforted her with soft words and reassurances that all was well. After her crying had subsided into sporadic sobs, he asked, "Feeling a bit better?"

She nodded tearfully, "Yeah. But I don't think I'll be able to fall back asleep very soon."

"Well that's understandable." He said, he looked up at the book on the dresser, "Could you excuse me a moment, Emma?" she nodded, wiping her face with her hands. He walked into his room and picked up a smaller psychology book and walked back to her room and handed it to her, "here read this." He said, opening it to the chapter he wanted her to read then handing it to her, she looked at the chapter and read "Dream psychology?"

"Sometimes when I'm scared of something, I try to learn about it so it doesn't scare me anymore." He explained, picking up the large book he brought in earlier. Emma gave him a weary smile, "Thank you, Double-D."

They wished each other good night once more then Double-D walked back to his own room.

But instead of going to bed, he went to his desk, pulled out his journal and wrote down what happened and when he discovered it and how long it had lasted, along with a note to remind him to call the hospital to ask if anything like that had happened while she was there. When he finally finished his clock read 2:30AM. He closed his journal and walked back to her room and looked in on her, she had fallen asleep with the book open on her lap.

"What happened to you, Emma?" he whispered, "What are you so scared of?"

That morning, Jenna knocked on Double-D's front door. Double-D opened it, wearing his usual clothes and holding a steaming mug of coffee, "Oh, Good morning, Jenna."

"Hi Double-D! I've got Nazz, Zoe, and Jimmy in the car ready to go to the mall to get Emma some new clothes."

"I thought Marie, May, Lee and Rachel were helping too, where are they?"

"They are, we're meeting up with them at the mall. We couldn't fit everyone in the same car."

"Good point. I'll go get her."

"You mean she's not up yet?"

"She's up, but since she doesn't have any more clothes, she's going through my old clothes to see if there's anything there she can wear."

"She's going through _your_ old clothes?" Jenna asks, astonished.

"Well, I also dug up some of Mother's old clothes…"

"I've heard enough." Jenna said, "I'll go get her." She walked right past him and up the stairs and walked to the guest room. Emma was sitting on the floor in a duct tape covered nightgown, wearing the same hat she had on the day before, cutting arm holes out of an old, lacy skirt with a pair of kiddy scissors.

"_What_ on God's green Earth are you _doing_?" she demanded, making her jump.

"I thought I'd turn Mrs. Hart's old skirt into a dress but I don't think I know how to sew so I…"

"I've heard enough." She said, then walked back to the car, grabbed Jimmy and dragged him upstairs to Emma's room.

"Hi Jimmy." Emma greeted.

"Help her." Jenna told him. Jimmy looked at the massacred skirt in her hands and said, "Good Grief!" and snatched the scissors from her. He then got a better pair of scissors and a sewing kit from Double-D and began working on the skirt. Twenty minutes later, the skirt was turned into a decent looking dress, Jimmy even grabbed an old scarf and wrapped it around her waist, making it into a make-shift belt. Emma thanked him and then Jenna shooed him out so she could change. Jenna helped Emma remove the duct tape off the night gown.

"Oh boy, we're going to have a lot of work to do." Jenna huffed under her breath as she tore off another strip of duct tape.

Emma slipped in between Jimmy and Zoe in the backseat and buckled herself in.

Nazz sat up front in the passenger's seat, Jenna spoke to Double-D for a moment, then slipped into the front seat and started the car and backed it out of the drive way. Double-D waved cheerfully at the car as it pulled away, Emma waved back, feeling a bit sad about leaving him behind.

"Alright, let's go." Jenna purred.

"Seatbelt." Emma reminded her.

"Wow, Zoe's right, you _are_ like Double-D." Jenna said, buckling up.

"Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?" she asked.

"It's not." Nazz assured her, "It's just, Double-D can be a _bit_ up tight."

"Well, yeah, if you knew all of the rules the Harts had, you'd understand _why_."

"Well, then why don't you tell us?" Nazz suggested.

"How long will it take us to get to the mall?" Emma asked.

"About fifteen minutes." Jenna informed her.

"Yeah, that's not enough." Emma said.

"How long would it take?" Jenna asked.

"Roughly an hour and a half." Emma replied, "Oh, hey! I didn't know that there was a playground there!"

"An hour and a half?" Jimmy asked.

"_Roughly_."

At the mall, the girls and Jimmy dragged Emma through almost every clothing store in the mall. Emma sheepishly thanked them as the older girls paid for her new clothing.

"I'll pay you back." She promised again while they finished up lunch.

"Don't worry about it," Rachel said, playfully punching her in the arm.

"Yeah, I don't mind spending a little money if I'm helping someone stay in fresh, clean, fashionable clothes." Jenna agreed, sipping her smoothie.

Zoe went up to throw away her trash, (after Emma told her to stop throwing it at the trash can) when Rachel's phone buzzed.

"That your new boyfriend?" Lee teased as Rachel looked at the name that flashed on the screen.

"Yeah, it's Doug." Rachel replied, quickly flipping her phone open and reading the text, "He wants to know what I'm doing." The name seemed to resonate with Emma, although she had no idea why.

"Doug?" Nazz asked, "I thought you were going out with Paul."

"Paul and I are friends." Rachel clarified, "We're not exclusive or anything, so we're allowed to see other people."

"So who is this Doug guy?" May asked.

"Well his name is Doug Vale. I met him at a Battle of the Bands last week. He rides a motorcycle and loves metal music and the color black…" Emma put her hands on her aching head.

"Emma? Are you okay?" Marie asked.

"That name…" She looked at Rachel, her eyes wide, "Rachel… Do you have a picture?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, on my phone, hang on." She pushed a few buttons and handed her the device.

Doug Vale looked like he was about twenty years old. He was pale and had dyed black hair, one eyebrow piercing, a nose ring, his ears were pierced in several places, and his tongue had a silver barbell in it. His eyes were the same color as her own. His face was so familiar. She knew this Doug Vale.

"I know this guy. I have no idea how or why, but I know him." Emma said, handing the phone back to Rachel.

"Are you sure, Emma?" Jimmy asked.

"Definitely. I know this guy."

"Well, let's see if he recognizes you too." She said, pressing a few buttons, "I'm going to text him back telling him that I'm hanging out with some friends and send a picture with you in it, we'll see how he reacts."

"Hey, can I be in it too?" Zoe asked, back from the trash can.

"Why not?" she said, "It'll make it more believable." Zoe hugged Emma from behind and started tickling her and making her laugh. Rachel took the picture and smiled, "Nice!" she said. She showed the table the picture. "Alright, attaching and…" she pressed a button, "Send!" she looked at the other girls and said, "And now we wait."

"Hey, Emma, while we're waiting, let's go over there!" Zoe said, pointing to a stand filled with earrings, with a sign overhead telling them that they didn't just sell earrings, but they also had ear-piercing services.

"Why?"

"So you can get your ears pierced!" Zoe said, dragging her towards the stand.

"I'm not so sure about this, Zoe…" Emma replied nervously.

"Wow, she _does_ sound like Double-D." Lee chuckled.

"Why does everyone say that like it's a _bad_ thing?" Marie asked.

"Come on, I _know_ it's not against the rules, I've seen Double-D's mom, even _she_ has her ears pierced." Zoe told her.

Emma bit her lip, still unsure, "does it hurt?"

"Only a little." Zoe assured, "Come on, Jim Jim will do it with you!"

"What!" Jimmy cried. The older girls giggled as Jimmy explained that he would _not_ get his ears pierced, or _anything_ pierced for that matter. When Zoe opened her mouth, he said, "Or tattooed." She pouted at that.

"Um, I can do it alone." Emma said, "I just…"

"Most Wicked!" Zoe exclaimed as she dragged her to the stand and informed the woman at the stand that Emma was there to get her ears pierced. The woman pointed to a case and Zoe pointed to a pair of blue posts and shoved Emma into the chair. The woman put what looked like a staple gun to her earlobes and BAM! Emma's ears were now officially pierced. And really red.

"Here's some solution, put it on either side of that every night for two weeks, then you can change them." She told her, handing her a small bag with a bottle of solution and a small info packet. Zoe then waved the woman at the register and paid for Emma's new earrings.

"Thank you, Zoe."

"Don't mention it.," she said proudly, "I just wish I got Jim Jim to pierce his ears too."

"Um, if you want, I could help with that."

"How?"

"Last night Double-D loaned me a psychology book," Emma explained.

"Why did he do that?" Zoe asked.

"I was having trouble sleeping, anyway, I think I know a way to get him to do what you want."

"I'm listening."

Jimmy watched nervously as Emma whispered something in Zoe's ear.

"Something wrong, Jimmy?" Nazz asked. Jimmy swirled his strawberry-lime iced tea with his straw, "Zoe makes me nervous," he admitted, "and her having someone as smart as Double-D as her best friend doesn't make me feel any better."

"Oh, come on," Nazz said, "Emma seems_ just_ as responsible as Double-D, if anything, that should make you feel _better_." They all glanced at the two pre-teen girls whispering to each other while pointing at Jimmy and giggling.

"Yeah, I feel so much better." Jimmy replied sarcastically. The girls then came back, "Look at Emma's new earrings!" Zoe exclaimed, pointing to the small blue spheres in Emma's red ears. The girls all clapped for her, Emma blushed.

"Your first piercing." Marie said proudly, like a mother who heard her child's first word.

"How'd you do?" Lee asked.

"It hurt a little, but I didn't cry or anything." Emma replied proudly.

"Well what do you expect from a girl who took a knife to the face? She's super tough, unlike Jim Jim, here!" Zoe replied.

"What?" Jimmy cried, shocked by her sudden insult.

"I'm said she's tougher then you Jim Jim."

"I can be tough!" he argued.

"Oh yeah?" Zoe leaned in, "Prove it."

"Alright I will!" he declared, "I'll take on any challenge you give me!"

Zoe smiled deviously, "Most Wicked."

Double-D, Marie and Emma are at the Hart's dinner table cleaning up while Emma is telling them what happened at the mall.

"And then Zoe and Jimmy went to the place where I got my ears pierced, but when they came back, Jimmy's ears weren't pierced, but he still got the same solvent I did." Emma said, "I asked Zoe what he got pierced and she smiled said it was between him and her. I wonder what he got pierced."

"I think I know what he got pierced." Marie chuckled.

"I think this mystery should be left unsolved." Double-D said firmly.

"Fine." Marie replied, "So what did you do today while us girls went out to play?"

"I went to the library, helped Rolf with his livestock, and worked on some inventions that needed tweaking, same old, same old." He said as the girls followed him into the kitchen. They had just put the dishes on the counter next to the sink when the phone rang. Double-D picked it up, "Hello, Hart Household, Eddward speaking." He paused for a moment then said, "Yes, she's here, hold on." He put his hand over the phone, "Emma, its Zoe." He said, handing her the phone as he walked back to do the dishes with Marie.

"Hi Zoe." Emma said. "Yes... Where?… It sounds familiar, what is it?" She held the phone from her ear for a minute before putting it back up to her ear, "Okay, okay, I get it, it's awesome and you really like it… Really? ...Hang on, I'll go check." She looked over a Double-D, "Zoe invited me to go to a place called Mondo-A-Go-Go with Jimmy, Kyle, Sarah and her tomorrow, can I go?"

"Certainly." He told her.

"Double-D said I can… Yeah, pretty much, it is _his_ house…Very _funny,_ Zoe… What time will you be here? … So 9AM? … Okay, see you then… Wear a what now? … OH! Okay, I can do that. Okay, bye Zoe." She hung up.

"Well?"

"I've got to pack a bag!" she said, and then raced up the stairs.

"Hey Double-D, today at the mall, Emma recognized someone."

"Really? Who?"

"Rachel's new boyfriend, Doug Vale. Emma freaked out as soon as she heard the name, so Rachel showed her a picture. Emma said she definitely knew this guy, she can't remember how and why, but she was absolutely sure she knew him."

"Marie, I'm going to need you to tell me what happens as soon as you learn anything, okay?"

"Okay, but…"

"After we're done with these dishes, I need to show you something in my room."

She gave him a knowing smile, "I'm gonna guess that's not an invitation?"

"I wouldn't say that, I _do_ want you to stay over tonight, but I'm afraid that it will not be all fun and games tonight."

"Bring it." She said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.


	6. Chapter 6

That night Emma dreamed of fire.

The dream didn't start that way. It started with her in a dark tiny bedroom made for a young child. It was filled with fluffy stuffed animals and the walls were covered in wallpaper with smiling cartoon animals that were probably supposed to be cheerful and cute but in the dark, the animals' smiles seemed twisted and cruel. Had she ever had a room like this? It seemed familiar enough.

"Hello?" she called, she heard muffled voices coming from behind the door, she headed towards the door, the room seeming to get bigger and the door seemed to get farther away as she moved towards it. When she touched the doorknob, it was hot to the touch. She pulled her hand back and backed away from it, sensing danger on the other side of the door.

"Stay away from me!" A woman's voice demanded.

"You have no right to keep my children away from me!" a man's voice argued.

"The hell I don't" The woman said. The voices seemed to fade into the background as the door opened to a boy about ten years old. He looked like Rachel's boyfriend, Doug, only his hair was brown instead of black and his face was free of any kind of metal and he was a lot younger, but Emma still immediately recognized him.

"Doug?" she asked, "What's going on?" He looked down at her, putting on a brave face, "It's okay, Beady." He said, holding her hand, "It's going to be okay."

"What's going on?"

"He's here. We have to go!" He told her.

"Who's he?" Emma said, legitimately confused. A woman's scream came from the other side of the door. Doug quickly opened the door and gasped, Emma looked past him to see a woman with long brown hair being held up in the air by her neck, being strangled by a man with long shadows over his head wearing what looked like a black body suit. The woman wore a bathrobe the color of toothpaste and had a glowing cigarette in one hand, her face was vague, almost like the blur you get when you move in a picture. She kicked and screamed, jabbing at the man with her lit cigarette, but the man's grip didn't loosen. Instead, he looked at her and Doug, a cold smile floating over his neck. The woman's cigarette fell onto the carpet and the floor ignited immediately. As the flames spread, the woman was gone, replaced by Double-D!

Emma screamed his name and ran towards him, but young Doug held her back. She shouted something at him, tears flying down her face, but when she turned back to Double-D, Marie was there being strangled in his place. Emma lunged forward, screamed her name as Doug grabbed her from behind, her legs flying in the air. Marie's face was quickly replaced by Zoe's. Then Jimmy's. Then Nazz's. Then Jenna's. Every single person she had met in the cul-de-sac was struggling for life in that guy's hands, their faces changing with each blink, each tear, each time the victim was obstructed from view, the moment she saw them again, the face changed. Finally, the woman was herself again. Just in time for her to go limp in his hands. The man released her and let her fall to the ground as the fire began to climb up the walls. Doug cried out, only Emma couldn't hear what he was saying. The man walked towards them, "So what will you do now children?" a dark voice asked them.

"Live?" he asked, spreading his arms out as the fire began to climb up the woman's hair, he pointed a gun at them. "Or die?"

"NOOO!" Emma cried.

"EMMA! EMMA!" Emma woke up to Double-D and Marie's worried faces. Marie helped her sit up. She was shaking violently, "Fire." She finally managed to say through shattering teeth, "It was _everywhere_." She cried, breaking down into sobs, Marie pulled her close and held her as she sobbed.

The next morning, Emma grabbed her new canvas messenger bag with multicolored chameleons on it that Zoe had chosen for her and walked out onto the curb. She wore a blue bikini with roses that looked like they had been drawn on with black ink that Marie had picked out for her the day before. Along with a pair of jean shorts and black flip flops and her hat, she stood out on the curb, eagerly looking back and forth for Zoe's mom's minivan. When the car came into view, she waved her arms in the air, her smile big and wide. Double-D and Marie leaned against the door, coffee in hand and watched as Zoe popped out of the van and the girls hugged then dashed into the car, Emma giving them a quick wave before leaping in beside Zoe. Zoe's Dad lowered the window and shouted, "We'll have her back by dinner!" And the van rushed off to collect Jimmy and Sarah.

Marie and Double-D walked back inside, closing the door behind them and sat at the kitchen table.

"So, what do we do now? I mean, you gave her the journal and she wrote in it, but she also took it with her."

"Now we look for connections between Rachel's new boyfriend and a fire." He said plainly. "We also need to call the hospital and see if she had any night terrors like last night and the night before."

Marie traced the edge of her mug with her finger, "Double-D, I'm worried about that girl. I mean, she's tough, I mean, she took a knife to the face for Pete's sake, but…" she looked him right in the eye, "She's just a _kid_. From what you told me what happened last time, it seems like Emma was being watched over by some very bad people. And last night…" she remembered watching the small pale girl tossing and turning, screaming Double-D's and her name, crying. Then when she got up, "Fire. It was _everywhere_."

"I'm nervous to see what she's not telling us."

"You and me both," he said taking a sip, "We're definitely going to need some re-enforcements." Marie nodded solemnly, her mug shaking in her hands. Double-D reached over and put his hand on hers. The mug stopped shaking and she gave him a weak smile. "Then lets get started."

"I can't _wait_ to get there!" Zoe cried from the back seat.

"We _know_, Zoe." Sarah said in the seat in front of her, annoyed, "You've said this a hundred times."

"I counted 37." Emma reported from next to Zoe.

"You counted?" Kyle asked from next to Emma.

"Okay I lost count at 37, but in my defense, it's still probably less then a hundred."

"I wanna go on the Manta-Coaster!" Jimmy cried.

"The Manta-coaster?"

"Oh! You'll _love_ it, Emma." Zoe's Dad called to the backseat, "It's Wicked!"

"I'll take your word for it, Mr. Navarro." Emma replied.

"Oh my." Zoe's mom said as the car slowed to a stop.

"What's up, Mom?" Zoe asked.

"The road's blocked." She reported.

"WHAT!" Zoe exclaimed, wiggling out of her seat and climbing over Emma and Sarah, finally falling into Jimmy's lap.

"Hey Jim Jim," she purred, making Jimmy flatten himself against his chair. She then flung open the door and walked outside.

"Zoe!" Kyle and Emma cried, scrambling up to Sarah and Jimmy to follow her. All four pre-teens hopped out of the car and looked at the man behind the orange traffic cones and wooden road blocks. He was fat, maybe 300 pounds, with an orange baseball cap and wearing an orange jumpsuit, he was putting a sign up that said, "Road Closed until further notice for repairs."

"What the hell!" Zoe shouted.

"Lo siento, chica, but the road is closed for repairs." The man said, lifting his hat up so they could get a good look at his face. Emma gasped.

The man was latino and had a large scar from his ear to his chin, he had a large curly mustache and a unibrow, his face was prickly with short facial hair. His eyes were dark and gleeful.

Emma knew this man. She had no idea how or why, but she just knew him. And she somehow knew that this man's presence was dangerous. Unfortunately for her, the man seemed to recognize her too, the moment he saw her, he suddenly seemed to unleash a powerful bloodlust from his fat frame.

"Come on, Zoe," she said nervously, "We'll go a different way to Mondo-A-Go-Go." She gently tugged at her arm, but Zoe stood firm.

"The road looks fine to me." Zoe said defiantly. The man looked at her darkly, "Rest assured chica, this road doesn't lead to anything good." He growled, the bloodlust becoming so strong that Emma's knees started to shake.

"Come on, Zoe, let's go." Emma said, urgency pushing her voice up an octave. Jimmy and Kyle also seemed to pick up on the danger, Sarah was trembling too.

"Please, Zoe." Jimmy begged, "Emma's right, we can still try another route." Zoe looked at her terrified friends, then looked back at the fat man, "You win this round." She hissed, then she lead her friends back to the car.

"Well, let's find a new route." Zoe's mom said, turning the car around. Emma hopped up and glanced back at the man. The man smiled darkly at her and took his index finger and slid it across his neck. Emma's blood went cold as the man shrank out of view.

"What was that about?" Kyle asked from next to her, making her jump.

"Yeah." Zoe said from the other side, making her jump again, "That was weird."

"Did you see how scary that guy was?" Jimmy asked, cowering in his seat.

"Yeah," Sarah agreed, "Just looking at him gave me chills."

"Yeah." Emma said wearily, "Creepy." Then sank back into her seat and looked down at her bag where she knew the journal Double-D gave her sat inside.

The rest of the morning, they encountered the same thing, every road out of Peach Creek was blocked for repairs. Zoe leapt out and shouted at each one, only for one of them to convince her to come back into the car so they could try another route. Each one had a creepy guy tell them that the road is closed, and each one of them seemed familiar to Emma. Emma also seemed familiar to them too, because each time they left they would point and laugh. Finally they ran out of routes to try.

"Oh COME ON!" Zoe shouted.

Zoe's mom drove them all back to Nazz's house to pick up Zoe's brother Kenny. Zoe picked up her little brother and held him in her arms and smiled at her friends, "Isn't he just adorable?" And image popped into her mind, a young Doug holding a baby with pale skin and blue eyes. She put her hands on her head, wincing.

"Emma?" Kyle called, poking her with his finger, "You okay?"

"I'm just having a lot of Déjà vu today." She said, giving him a reassuring smile.

After they picked up Kenny, they went back to Zoe's house and played in their sprinkler and chasing her dog, Sparky, around the yard. Emma and Zoe were the only ones who could catch him.

"Wow!" Jimmy cried.

"Those are some skills you have there, Emma." Zoe's dad said, impressed.

"I guess you're not the only ninja around here, huh Zoe?" Kyle asked.

"Well, of course she's got ninja skills, she's my BFF!" Zoe declared, taking the dog from her and putting it on the ground so they could resume chasing him.

Sarah was the only one not impressed, sitting on Zoe's front porch. Emma sighed and walked over to her, "Hey Sarah?"

"What?"

"Do you hate me or something?" Emma asked her, sort of catching her off guard, "Cause I've been trying to become your friend but you kind of shut me out. I know I didn't invite you yesterday, but you didn't seem like you wanted to spend more time with me. So I'm sorry for not asking you to come, can we start over?" She asked, holding out her hand. Sarah stared at her hand then sighed, "I don't hate you. I just have a bad feeling about you, no offense."

"None taken."

"I can't put my finger on it, but I think you're hiding something. Something really bad. And until I know what it is, I can't bring myself to trust you." Emma sat next to her and watched Zoe, Jimmy and Kyle chase Sparky while slipping on the wet lawn.

"You know something, Sarah? I have the same feeling." She said plainly, "And I hate it."

As the sun set, Sarah, Jimmy and Emma walked to their cul-de-sac and Emma walked to Double-D's house, "Bye guys, see you tomorrow."

"Bye Emma!" they said, walking further down the cul-de-sac to their own homes. Emma opened the door, "Hello? Double-D? Marie? Mrs. Hart? Mr. Hart? I'm home." She stopped, marveling the front hallway, "I'm home." She said with a smile. She noticed a sticky note, she picked it up and read,

"Dear Emma,

I'm helping Eddy move some things so I'll be home late. Mother and Father should be coming back tonight, but there's some spaghetti and meatballs in the fridge that you can re-heat if you're hungry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I wouldn't be there, it was kind of a last minute thing. See you when I get home, can't wait to hear about your trip to Mondo-A-Go-Go.

-Eddward"

That was fine with Emma, she had some things to sort out and she didn't want to involve anyone else in it. She wondered if Rachel had gotten a response from Doug Vale, but then shook her head, she knew Doug. There was no need for her to get a confirmation of something she already knew. She pulled her notebook out of her bag and walked to the kitchen. She sat at the table with a plate of re-heated spaghetti and meatballs and began to sketch the men she saw that day with memos about she observed about them and what she could remember as well as their actions. When she finished she wrote about how _all_ the ways out of the town were blocked.

"That'll make it hard for Mr. and Mrs. Hart to come home." She said, putting her empty plate in the sink and began washing it. "Or for anyone to go get them…" she stopped, "No way in or out." She stopped washing her plate and looked back at the information she had recorded. She then wrote, "No way in or out. No escape." She looked at those words and the man's voice from her dream popped into her head, "No way in or out. No escape. They'll be trapped." Emma wrote the quote she remembered underneath in quotation marks then wrote, "man who killed the woman in my dream."

Emma then flipped through the pages, skimming the information, "What does this all mean?" she wrote on a fresh page, "And why do I feel that more is coming and that it's not good?" She began writing more questions as her mind reeled, feeling more unsure of herself then she had since she woke up with no memory.


	7. Chapter 7

Double-D came home right before Emma went to bed. He informed her that his parents wouldn't be coming home as expected, "Apparently all the roads into town are blocked."

"Yeah, we couldn't get out of town to go to Mondo-A-Go-Go, so we kind of played at Zoe's house instead."

"Oh, well, you had fun, right?"

"Yup…" she said, "Hey Double-D?"

"Yes Emma?"

"I have a feeling…"

"Yes?"

"I have a feeling that we're trapped here."

"Huh?"

"The roads all being closed off? This big scary guy told us that they were being repaired, but they looked fine! And…" she took a deep breath, "I recognized him, Double-D."

"You did?" he asked, seeming more concerned.

"Yeah, I don't know his name or anything but…" she showed him the picture she drew of him. "I know him being here is _not_ a good thing. And I know that it's not going to stop at the roads."

That night, shadowy figures began to cut the telephone wires connecting Peach Creek with the outside world.

"Who has freaking land lines anymore?" a man complained.

"Oh stop with your whining, Doug." A woman with a Russian accent snapped.

"Hey, Ivanna, leave the kid alone, huh?" The latino man with the scar called up to her, "It's your fault they weren't done earlier by your blood thirsty _soportar_, like we planned."

"My wittle babies needed to get their shots!"

"I'm surprised your "wittle babies" haven't _gotten_ shot." Both men chuckled.

"Oh, just shut up and cut faster." She huffed. Doug's phone rang.

"Ugghh," Ivanna groaned, "Are you seriously texting that girl right now?"

"Shut up." He said, glancing at his screen and reading her text, "Looks like I got a date tomorrow." He said, giving Ivanna a nasty grin, "Jealous?"

"Hardly." She spat.

"Definitely." The latino man chuckled.

"Shut up, Luis." Ivanna spat, "We've got work to do, in case you've hadn't noticed."

The following morning, Emma came down in her pajamas, a light blue tank top and gray and blue flannel pants, as well as her hat and white socks, to get herself some breakfast, still too tired to notice that Zoe, Sarah, Jimmy and Kyle are sitting at her kitchen table. Emma picks up a sticky note from Double-D, informing her that he would be gone until roughly lunch time and to leave a note if she wasn't going to be there when he returned.

'What's with this family and sticky notes?' She wondered.

"Oh, well," She yawned and put the sticky note onto the fridge as she opened it. She rubbed her eyes and grabbed a few pieces of fruit from the fridge and began absentmindedly juggling them with one hand while she then closes the fridge with the other. Her friends watch in awe as she then, while still juggling, pulls out a bowl from a cabinet and places it onto the counter then pulls out a _huge_ knife and manages to cut the fruit while still juggling them without cutting herself and making the pieces of fruit perfectly even pieces each the same size fall into the bowl. When she finishes she drops the knife in the sink, grabs a fork from a drawer and walks toward the table with the bowl, only to realize that her friends had been sitting there the whole time.

"WHAAA!" she shouts, tossing the bowl in the air, then spastically catches it. "What are you guys doing here?"

"How did you do that?" Kyle asks, amazed.

"Do what?" she asked, "I made a fruit salad, big whoop." She placed the bowl on the table and sits down to eat.

"Yeah but you juggled the fruit with one hand and then cut it up all ninja-style!" Zoe said.

"I did?"

"Yes, didn't you notice?" Sarah asked.

"No, I wasn't really _awake_ until I finally saw you guys sitting there." She replied, finally digging into her food.

"You could sell tickets to that!" Jimmy cried.

"To me making a fruit salad?" Emma asked, her mouth filled with mushed up fruit, "I don't think that'll sell well."

"No! To a restaurant where the cook not only cooks delicious food, but does it in a flashy way!"

"I'm still not following."

"We could start a restaurant! To make some extra money!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"Why would we do that?" Emma asked.

"You want to pay those girls back for all the stuff they bought you, right?"

Emma winced, "Yeah…"

"Then this is perfect!" He exclaimed, rubbing his palms together with a creepy smile crawling up his cheeks.

"Um, guys, Jimmy's kind of scaring me right now."

"Don't worry, that's just the face Jimmy makes whenever he's coming up with a scam." Sarah explained.

"A scam?" Emma cried, "I don't wanna trick people out of their money!"

"Easy, Emma." Kyle said, "We say scam, but in this case, we're not tricking anybody out of their money."

"So we'll just be opening up a little restaurant?" Emma asked, "No tricks or scams?"

"Yeah," Zoe assured, "We'll just be providing a service to our neighbors."

"Okay… I'm up for that." Emma said, warming up to the idea.

"Good." Jimmy said, "Come on guys, lets go to my house and come up with a menu!"

"Um, can I finish eating and get ready first?" Emma asked. Everyone looked at her and remembered that she was still in her pajamas.

"Sure" Kyle said, rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry, forgot you were still in your jammies."

"We'll meet you there." Sarah said.

"See you, BFF!" Zoe called.

And with that, her friends left her to finish her breakfast in peace.

Double-D stood with Ed and Eddy, looking down at the cut phone lines.

"So every single phone line is down?" Ed asked.

"Yes, after I couldn't reach Mother or Father on the home phone, I decided to check the phone lines." Double-D explained.

"That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think, Sock head?" Eddy replied.

"Well to be honest, it was something Emma told me last night."

"What did she say?"

"She said she felt as if we were going to be trapped in this town." He said, "When Mother and Father told me that they couldn't get in because all the roads were blocked, Emma explained that the same thing happened earlier when she and her friends were trying to go to Mondo-A-Go-Go. She then told me that she had a feeling that we were being trapped here."

"So what does that have to do with the phone lines, Double-D?" Ed asked.

"Well, Emma told me that she_ knew_ it wouldn't end at the roads. Then last night she kept repeating the same thing over and over again, 'No way in or out. No escape. They'll be trapped.' Then she muttered something about communications being cut."

"So either this kid is psychic," Eddy said, "Or she was a part of it."

"Well, she also recognized someone when they were stopped on the road. She said, while she didn't remember his name or anything, that she knew him being here was not a good thing." Double-D looked to his best friends, "Gentlemen, I think something big is coming, I don't know what, but it would be best if we stay alert to anything and everything until we know more."

"Couldn't we just ask Emma what's going to happen?" Ed asked.

"No, Lumpy." Eddy said, "That kid probably doesn't have enough pieces for us to make a full picture," he looked at Double-D, "Right Sock-head?"

"Correct, Eddy, however, she may help us find someone who_ can_."

Doug was standing by the apartment complex that he told Rachel was where he lived. He tried not to look too conspicuous, but he couldn't help but feel nervous. He had never been on a date before nor had he ever met a girl like Rachel before. She was courageous, cute, funny, and made his heart race. He really liked her, and actually cared about her, which was new to him. The only people he ever really cared about in his life was his mother and Beatrice. He looked at the picture Rachel had sent two days ago with Beatrice and some pink-haired girl, laughing and smiling at the mall. Ever since he learned that she was alive, he began to make a plan to sneak her and Rachel out of Peach Creek, but there was no way ever since she and a couple other kids had to go to _every freaking street out of Peach Creek_ and reveal herself to Luis.

Doug slipped his phone back into his pocket as Rachel pulled up in her car, "Hey!" she called. He smiled, "Was wondering when you'd get here."

"Yeah, well, I had to stop on the side of the road to take a call from a friend." She explained as he hopped into the car.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, some of the kids in the neighborhood have made a little restaurant, and apparently the head chef is putting on a show."

"A show, huh?"

"Yeah, up for lunch and a show?"

"Hell yeah!" he exclaimed. Rachel smiled and put the car in gear. He looked up and saw a black boy with his dreadlocks pulled back into a doo-rag glaring at him from the apartments. But the boy quickly vanished from sight as they made their way to the unknown.

'Jimmy's Café de Awesome' had a sizable lunch rush when they opened. Emma and Zoe were the chefs, Kyle and Sarah were the waiters and Jimmy was the host. They had chairs and tables set around the kitchen where Zoe would toss Emma the ingredients to slice and dice ninja style, then Emma would send the food back Zoe's way for her to cook over an open fire and let Zoe be her crazy self.

Nazz and Jenna were the first to discover the little gem, going on their daily jog when they saw Kyle put the sign out front. Nazz then texted May who quickly brought her sisters then texted Ed who was with Eddy and Double-D while Lee texted Rachel.

"Cobb Salad, hold the tomatoes, a Turkey Panini and Emma's Special Fruit Salad!" Sarah called while Kyle delivered the Kankers their iced tea.

Zoe tossed Emma the salad ingredients and Emma quickly sliced and diced them into two different bowls while juggling the ingredients with her other hand. Once the salads were done, she began cutting the Panini pieces and tossing them to Zoe, who caught each slice in her pan and began flipping it over an open fire, screaming "MOST WICKED!" Once the sandwich was cooked, she tossed it into the air and caught it on the plate and put it with the other two, "Too easy," she declared as Nazz, Jenna and the Kankers applauded, then dinged a bell and shouted, "NEXT!" Just as the bell rang, the Eds walked in.

"How quaint!" Double-D complimented.

"Smells pretty good." Eddy commented.

"We're with them," Ed told Jimmy, Marie, May and Lee waved to indicated who they were with. Jimmy nodded and picked up a three make-shift menus that they had made earlier and led them to their table, Kyle quickly pulled another table over so there was room for them at the Kanker's table. They took a seat as the girl's lunches were brought to the table by Sarah while Kyle asked for their drink orders. Double-D and Eddy ordered water while Ed ordered an iced tea. The Eds ordered their meals and Emma began juggling the ingredients and had the knife at the ready when Rachel and Doug were led in by Jimmy. At that moment Double-D pushed up from the table and cried, "EMMA, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"Making lunch?" she replied, confused, still juggling.

"THAT'S TOTALLY UNSAFE!"

"But!"

"Hey, hey." Doug said, patting Double-D on the shoulder, "Why not see what the girl can do before freaking out, I mean, look around, she's obviously done this a few times without hurting herself, why not let her do it one more time?" Double-D looked unsure, "dude, I understand your concern, I have a little sister too, but sometimes you just have to trust them. Sometimes they can be right." Marie held Double-D's hand, "Fine." He huffed, and sat back down.

"Um, does this mean I can cut these now?" Emma asked, still juggling. Double-D nodded.

"Okay, Zoe, let's get this done!" Emma cried, slicing and juggling and hitting the ingredients over to Zoe, who cooked everything and finished up the meal with a ding of the bell, "Lunch's on!" she cried. Everyone clapped as Kyle and Sarah served the Eds their meal.

"See?" Doug said, "She's good." Under the table he clenched his fist.

"Yes, well, Emma, if you could please just be careful, okay?"

"Alright, Double-D." she said, giving him a big smile.

"What would you like to drink?" Kyle asked.

He and Rachel both asked for iced tea, then Sarah asked for their order. Rachel ordered a salad and he ordered a cold cut. Emma cut the salad with ease, but when it was time for his sandwich, he said, "Hang on." Emma stopped, still juggling the ingredients.

"Yeah?"

"I don't want you to make your brother worried, so you can cut mine normally."

"Oh, okay…" she said, putting the knife down so she could put all the ingredients onto the cutting board. She took the bread, and getting ready to chop it, but instead of chopping it, she stabbed it, "Huh?" She tried again, and once again she held the knife, ready to chop, only for the knife to stab into the bread. She screwed up her face in an angry pout and tried again. She stabbed the bread again. She moved the bread to the side of the cutting board and pulled the other ingredients and tried to chop those, only to stab them instead. Emma becoming more and more angry as she tried, her face turning red. Zoe starts backing away nervously and Jimmy looks at her wide-eyed. Kyle and Sarah hide behind their serving tray while the others slowly duck under the table, except for Doug.

"Um, Emma?" Kyle asked nervously, "You okay?" She tries one more time and again she stabs the food. She lets out an aggravated cry and slams the edge of the cutting board down, launching the food into the air where she slashes at it wildly with two knifes, making his sandwich in mid-air. She then kicks the cutting board back up so it's behind the sandwich, then kicks it and launches the sandwich across the room and into Doug's open mouth. She then stands there, huffing and puffing, then walks over to the bell and rings it. "Next." She huffs, then walked back to her station and picked up the cutting board and took it to the sink to clean it. Everyone slowly went back to their places as she finished cleaning the cutting board and got back to her station and picked up her knife.

"Damn." Said Eddy.

"You can say that again." Said Jenna.

"Hot damn." Said Lee.

Suddenly, a chicken dashes in with a distraught caw, with Rolf, Jonny, Paul, and Kevin hot on it's talons. Each one of them leaping for it and missing.

"CHICKEN!" Ed cried.

"GET THAT FOUL!" Rolf cried. Everyone attempted to catch the chicken, but it kept slipping away right before they could grab it. The chicken then hops on a table, Ed leaps to get her, only to launch it towards Emma, who immediately goes to cut her, but notices that it's a _live_ chicken. She then flips the knife around her hand so the blade is outside her hand and grabs the chicken by the neck. The chicken was so surprised by her sudden capture that she craps out an egg that splatters onto the kitchen floor.

"Woah." Kevin said.

"Wicked!" Zoe exclaimed.

Emma then puts her knife down and holds the chicken under her wings and hands her over to Rolf, "Here's your chicken back, Rolf."

Rolf takes his chicken back and pats Emma on the top of the head, "Thank you, Quick-with-a-Knife Emma girl." She smiles and makes her way back to the kitchen, only she slips on the broken egg on the floor and falls forward, hitting her hand on the hot burner. Emma yelped out in pain and pushed back from it, landing with a thud on her butt, cradling her hand and tears burning in her eyes.

"EMMA!" Double-D and Zoe screamed in unison. Everyone but Doug, who was too stunned to move, rushed over to Emma, but Double-D got there first. He grabbed her hand and shoved it under the sink and began pouring cold water on it, "Jimmy! First Aid kit!" he shouted. Jimmy and Sarah dashed to a cabinet and grabbed a first aid kit. Emma sobbed and sniffled as Double-D fussed over her hand, Zoe hugged her around her neck and Kyle put his hand on her shoulder. Marie walked over and held her other hand and wiped at her tears. Doug just stood there and stared, shocked. Rachel walked back to him, "She's gonna be okay," she looked back at them, Sarah put her hand on her other shoulder and Jimmy patted her on the head. Paul began cracking jokes, making the younger ones either chuckle or look confused, the jokes must have been perverted because Nazz and Jenna smacked him upside the head after a little while. May and Lee smiled warmly at their sister, Ed and Eddy seemed relieved that she was fine. Jonny told everyone what Plank had said about the incident, Kevin looked at him funny. Rolf shouted at his chicken for starting so much trouble. "She's obviously in good hands." Doug smiled sadly, "Yeah… Hey, you wanna get out of here?" Rachel smiled, "You mean Dine and Dash?"

"Hey, I won't tell." He said, holding his hands up. She laughed and said, "Sure."

That night, Rachel dropped him off at the apartments and drove away with a wave and a kiss. He waved back until she was gone, then he shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way to his hotel. He felt someone watching him and turned to look up at the apartments, it was Paul glaring at him again. He made the "I'm watching you" sign before closing the shades. Doug stuck his pierced tongue out at him, then pulled his phone out and opened it to the picture Rachel had sent him, then he went into his texts and opened the one he needed at that moment.

"From: Beady

Topic: Your 20th Birthday, Dumbass.

Dear Doug,

Even though you can be a total ass-hat and really selfish. Even though you don't know how to put the freaking seat down after you take a leak. (seriously, dude, you're not the only one who has to pee, you know) Even though you can be harsh and cold. Even though all those piercings make you look like a total douche bag. (Especially the one in your tongue, seriously bro, are you high? Cause that thing is NASTY!) I couldn't ask for a better big brother. I love you, you stupid jerk. Happy 20th Birthday, Doug.

Heart, The Brains of the Family, Beady"

Underneath the text was an attachment of Emma smiling and sticking her blue tongue out at him while holding up a sign that said, "Happy 20th, Loser." Underneath was a heart and "Beady." He then remembered what Rachel had told him, "She can't remember anything about who she was, she doesn't even remember her own name…" His chest ached, his baby sister was _right there_ and she didn't even _recognize_ him. She had a new life, with new friends her age and even a new big brother, who as much as he hated to admit it, seemed like a decent guy who actually cared about her. Although the matching hat thing was a little much in his opinion.

He sighed, he was about to shove his phone back into his pocket when it buzzed in his hand, letting him know that he had a new text.

From Ivanna.

He groaned, but still exited out of his sister's old message and looked at the one from the most obnoxious assassin in the whole freaking world. "My babies will be unleashed at dawn." It said. He rolled his eyes, Ivanna could be so fucking _dramatic. _He exited out of the message and shoved his phone back into his pocket. Instead of walking to his hotel, he walked to the cemetery to a tombstone and sat down in front of it.

"Hey Mom." He said, "Sorry I haven't visited in so long." He rubbed the back of his neck, and sighed, "I know you're probably pissed about that but, I could really use some advise…"


	8. Chapter 8

Later that night it poured. Rolf couldn't complain, wet soil was good for the crops and he didn't have to refill the water troughs tomorrow morning. He rested his head on his pillow and was closing his eyes when Wilfred squealed from outside, starting up a chorus of animal cries. Rolf's eyes snapped open, red and angry. He got out of bed and stomped to the barn, where Wilfred squealed relentlessly.

"WILFRED!" Rolf shouted, slamming the barn door open, "WHY DO YOU WAKE THE SON OF A SHEPPARD WITH YOUR SQUEALS OF ENDLESS…" He stopped dead once he saw what Wilfred and the others were squealing about.

There, sitting in the middle of his barn, a snake that had to be about 15 feet long and as thick as his waist, was shedding it's large, green skin. It was covered in scars, but there was a nasty claw mark on it's body and it was bleeding, so it was recent, but the scratch didn't look too deep. Rolf fell back, eyes wide. His father, Noah, walks up behind him, "Rolf, why do you stand and gape like a…" he saw the snake and recoiled. The snake finished shedding it's skin and slowly slipped out through a crack in the wall, leaving a large snake skin and a blood spot on the ground.

"Papa, what was that overly large serpent?"

"I do not know, Rolf." His father replied, "However, tomorrow, we will ask the Sharp-as-a-Tack Ed Boy to aid us in identifying the serpent and the creature brave enough to battle it." He said, indicating the blood on the ground and the claw mark in the skin. "For now, we must rest." He told his son. Rolf nodded and the two men walked home, however, they both knew sleep would be allusive tonight.

At Double-D's house, sleep came easy. At least it did for Emma. She was out like a light, but then again, she'd had a long day, after burning her hand on the burner and crying like a baby while Double-D bandaged her hand. Jimmy passed around the bills for everyone who had eaten, except Rachel and Doug who had snuck out without paying, much to his anger and disappointment. Then passed around everyone's earnings for the day. Emma had made twenty dollars. It wasn't much, but it was all she had and she had earned it so she felt pretty proud of herself. Zoe, Kyle, Sarah and Jimmy took Emma to the candy store for the first time to spend her earnings. The moment she entered her mind was blown, there were so many sweets. Everyone bought fudge which they devoured immediately, but Emma couldn't decide what to get at first, so the lady behind the counter let her sample a few small pieces of different sweets until she decided on a two pounds of fudge, but she wanted each pound packaged separately.

"Why are you getting two packages of fudge?" Kyle asked as Emma waited patiently for the lady to wrap the fudge and ring her up.

"I'm going to take one pound home and share it with Double-D and his parents when they get home." She said, "They let me stay with them and have taken really good care of me, so I want to share it with them."

"Aww," Zoe said. Everyone looked at her funny, "What?" Zoe asked, everyone looked away. "What?"

"What about the other pound?" Sarah asked, changing the subject.

"I'm sharing it with you guys, of course." She said, surprised that she even asked, "You guys are the best friends I've ever had, why wouldn't I want to share this hard-earned fudge with you?" Emma quickly found herself in a group hug that was both constrictive and comforting. Then they all walked home, munching on fudge and laughing. When Emma got home, Double-D lectured her about the proper ways to handle a knife and informed her that he was going to teach her how to cut food normally. Which resulted in the most stressful dinner preparation either of them ever had, but they still had fun. Double-D helped her change her bandages, he said the cut on her head didn't need a bandage anymore, so she went without it when she went to bed.

In her dream, she was about six years old, crying, curled up in a ball, a deflated ball beside her. Doug, about fourteen, his ears are pierced and his hair was long and tied up in a ponytail. He wore a red t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts as well as red high tops and a couple of black sweatbands on his wrists and forehead. He came up to her and asked what was wrong.

"I don't have any friends!" she sobbed, "Nobody wants to play with me!" Doug sighed and rubbed the back of his head and bent down beside her. "Well, what do you want me to do about it?" he asked.

"Will you play with me?" she asked, looking up at him with hope gleaming in her eyes.

"I can't. I have to train with Luis." She pouted at that. "You're _always_ training." She whined, "Why can't you play with me?"

"Cause I have a mission and I have to train for it." She scrunched up her face, "I hate your stupid missions."

"I do too, but if you are a good girl and do well in your studies and your training, I'll bring you back a present." He promised with a hopeful smile, but she continued to pout, "I'd rather you play with me." She said, turning away from him.

"Trust me, I feel the same, but I gotta do this, okay?" she didn't reply, she didn't look at him, she pouted, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Luis popped the ball you gave me last time." She sniffled. Doug's fists clenched, "I'll talk to him about that." He growled. "Ivanna said I was stupid cause I don't know where babies come from." She told him.

"Ivanna is a fat cow and you shouldn't know that until your twelve." He replied, patting her on the head, "I know I don't get to play with you a lot, but you know I still care, right?"

Her lip stiffened, "yeah." She replied quietly, "I still wish you played with me more." She sniffled.

"I wish I could too." He said.

The dream shifted a bit then it occurred to her that whatever was happening in the dream now was a few days later after the last part of the dream. Six year old Emma sat in the same spot, curled up and crying. Only this time, a girl with long dark curly hair pulled back into a braid down her back was laughing over her as two bear cubs tugged at the six year old's pigtails. The girl was around Doug's age, she was chubby and her face was covered in acne, she wore a thick black and purple sweatshirt with a bear skin hood. She wore black leggings and thick bear hair covered winter boots. In her hand was a whip, that she used near the girl's feet and face.

"Come on, vittle girl," the girl mocked, "Fight back!"

"DOOUUUGG!" Emma cried. In a flash, Doug was beside her. A messenger bag slung over one shoulder, a knife in one hand and the girl's braid in the other. The girl reached for her braid, only to realize that it was gone.

"DOUG!" the girl roared, pulling her whip back, ready to strike.

"Tell the bears to let her go or the next thing that gets chopped off is a limb." He threatened. The girl looked at Emma and Paul and her bears and her whip, then back at Emma and Paul.

"Vine!" she snapped.

"I think you mean fine." Emma corrected. Doug cracked up at that, the girl's cheeks puffed out and she stomped away, the bear cubs bounding after her. Doug looked back at Emma, dropped the braid and put the knife away. He ruffled her hair, "Sorry you had to go through that."

"I _hate_ her. Emma said.

"We all do." He said plainly, "But look here, I brought you something." He said, holding the bag and smiling knowingly. Young Emma bounced up and down, "What is it? What is it?" she asked excitedly.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands." He instructed. The little albino girl obeyed, a huge smile radiating off the child.

"And…" she felt a weight in her hands, "Okay, you can open them!" she did, but the excitement fell away to confusion. "What is it?" she asked him.

"It's an egg." He said, realizing that she wasn't as thrilled as he had hoped she'd be, "I saved it during the mission. It doesn't have a mom either, so I figured you two could be friends."

"How can I be friends with an egg?" she asked. "And what's in it?" He smiled, "You'll have to figure that out yourself." She pouted, "Some present." She said.

"Hey, that present is your new best friend." He said, "be nice." She pouted but she petted the egg. "Do you at least know how to take care of it?"

"It's an egg." He said plainly.

"Well, do I have to sit on it or something?" she asked.

"I dunno." He said. A Hispanic teenager with a huge bandage down his face walked up to the two of them, "Hey, Doug, we've gotta train." He said with a thick accent.

"What happened to your face, Luis?" Emma asked. Luis gritted his teeth, "I fell." He said. Emma pulled a band-aid out of her dress pocket and handed it to him, "I hope you feel better." She said. Luis had a small smile crawl up his lip, as he took the band-aid from her. "Thanks, little niña." He said. "Come on, Luis, let's train." He said, leading Luis away. Then the dream shifted again.

Young Emma was reading in the library, surrounded by stacks of books with eggs and various animals on the covers. The egg rested a few feet away from her, out of the way of her research materials, sitting on the table. She grumbled about Doug being stupid and giving her something without knowing what it was as she angrily flipped through the pages. The chubby girl was trying to sneak up behind her, but young Emma shouted, "Mrs. Librarian! Ivanna's trying to disturb my studies!" Ivanna was dragged by the ear past her, screaming insults in Russian, Emma turned around and shouted back, "Da zatknis' ty zhirnaya zadnitsa." ("Oh shut up fat ass.") the librarian looked a bit impressed at the six year old's Russian as she dragged the stunned Ivanna out of the library. Then she found the page she was looking for, her eyes widened and she looked at the egg beside her. The page in front of her titled, "Green python." Information and data about snakes flooding back to her as the dream shifted, Emma was looking through enormous books and writing notes, the egg has a pair of head phones with classical music coming from it.

Another shift, Emma was making a crappy tank for her new friend based on a crayon drawing, egg still has head phones.

Another shift, Emma glancing at the egg in it's crappy tank from over a thick book, bored out of her mind, egg still has head phones.

Another shift, Emma watched as the egg shifted, she takes the headphones off and listens for a second, "Yeah, I'd want to stop listening to this too, buddy." She said, turning off the music. The thick leather like shell seemed to be almost churning and bubbling as the little snake made it's way into the world. Finally, after a long struggle, the snake burst from the shell and blinked at the little girl before her. "Welcome Jormungard." The child whispered, handing the little snake a strip of uncooked bacon and turning on the heat lamp. "Welcome home, friend."

Another shift, little Emma is walking near where she cried earlier in the dream, the little snake was wrapped around her wrist, nibbling on an uncooked strip of bacon in her hand as the little girl jabbered on, giving him a tour. "Hey, you wanna know why I named you Jormungard?" She asked the snake, the snake looked up at her, it's mouth full of bacon, "I named you that because Jormungard was taken from his mom and siblings too, just like you, but don't worry, I'll take care of you, even when we're all grown up and you're _huge_. I won't let anything separate us, okay?" the snake didn't seem to understand, just staring at her. "Oh that's right, I haven't told you my name yet, have I?" she said, "I don't really like it, my dad gave it to me, but it's…"

"Brat!" Emma stopped, annoyed, and turned to Ivanna, "What do you want, Ivanna? Can't you see I'm giving my friend a tour?" she said, indicating the snake eating bacon on her hand.

"Your friend, huh?" she said.

"Yeah." Ivanna smacked the snake out of her hand, "Hey! What are you doing, Jormungard's a baby!" she shouted, reaching for the snake, only for Ivanna's whip to wrap around it and for her to yank the child back, making her fall onto the ground on her butt.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. Ivanna smiled and whistled for her bear cubs.

"Kill it." she said with an evil glint in her eye and a wide smile on her face.

"NOO!" Emma screamed, she bolted up to save the snake, only for Ivanna to punch her in the face and begin beating her up. "LEAVE JORMUNGARD, ALONE YOU STUPID BEARS!"

Everyone quickly closed in, Doug and Luis slipping towards the front.

"DOUG!" Emma screamed, tears and blood slipping down her cheeks. "MAKE HER STOP! MAKE HER STOP, DOUG! HER BEARS ARE KILLING JORMUNGARD!" Doug was confused for a second, but then his eyes widened in comprehension, and he quickly ran to the bears and pushed them away, he looked at the ground and frowned sadly and said in a sad tone, "Ivanna. You can stop now. You killed her snake, leave her alone." Ivanna's eyes brightened with glee as she dropped the beaten Emma and her whip to see the snake, pushing Doug out of the way and picking it up. It was bloody and limp, it's eyes were closed. Emma couldn't speak or scream, it had barely been alive for an hour and Ivanna had killed it. Emma got really angry, she looked at the whip and the nearby tree and quickly formulated a risky plan. She began climbing while Ivanna gloated about her triumph over a six year old girl. Doug began yelling at her, kicking her bears and pulling out his knife, Ivanna pulled out her own, egging him on, dangling Emma's limp snake in his face. Emma could see their lips moving, but couldn't hear a word. She could only hear her own words echoing in her mind, "…don't worry, I'll take care of you…" a bitter taste in her mouth as the other kids noticed what she was doing, Doug must have over heard someone talking, because he glanced up, surprise bright in his eyes. Ivanna looked around, confused, as Emma climbed closer and closer to the spot she was going for. Ivanna noticed that her whip was gone, then looked over at Doug.

"OW!" She cried, the bloody snake bit down on her chubby fingers, she threw it, Doug catching it in his hands and calling out for something. Emma finally reached where she wanted, Ivanna looked up in surprise. Emma leapt off the branch she had climbed, Ivanna's whip in her hand, ready to strike her enemy down, but just as she reached Ivanna, she woke up.

Double-D leaned against the doorframe of Emma's room, he was tired but he wanted to make sure she was okay.

Emma moaned and rolled over in her sleep, her dreams seemed much tamer lately then the first two nights she had stayed there. According to the nurses at the hospital, Emma had screamed in her sleep and woke up in tears, and cowered away from the nurses who came to see what was wrong.

Emma muttered something that he couldn't understand the meaning of, he wrote down what it sounded like.

"No, leave Jormungard alone, you stupid bears!" she cried.

"Jormungard?" Double-D repeated. Jormungard was from Nordic Mythology, also known as the world snake. It was said that he was so big that he was wrapped around the earth, holding it together from the bottom of the ocean biting it's tail to hold the planet together and eating whales for food and biding it's time until the end of the world.

Double-D didn't know what bears had to do with it, so he guessed that she was dreaming normally, but he still wrote it down, just in case and went to bed.

"Doug! Make her stop!" He froze, and walked back to her room, "Make her stop, Doug! Her bears are killing Jormungard!"

"Emma?" He asked, hiding the notebook from sight by shoving the arm towards the wall, making it look like he was leaning in to check on her as she turned on the light.

"Double-D?" she said, rubbing her eyes, "What's going on?"

"I was just heading for the bathroom and heard something." He fibbed.

"Oh…" she said. They both stared at each other for a minute, then Double-D pushed off the wall and said, "Well, I'm going to bed."

"I thought you had to go to the bathroom?" Emma said. He froze, caught, "Uh, I meant I was heading back to my room _from_ the bathroom."

"Oh." She said, staring at him wide-eyed.

"So, Good night." He said.

"Double-D!" He stopped, and looked back into her room, "Yes, Emma?"

"Do you have any books on snakes and bears?" He smiled, "I'll be right back."

The next morning, Rolf and his father knocked on the Hart's front door.

Emma opened it, much to Noah's shock, "THE SMART ED BOY HAS BECOME A GHOST!" he cried.

"Ghost?" Rolf asked, "Is this not Pale-as-a-Ghost Emma girl?"

"It is, however, I resent being called a ghost. Just because I got stabbed in the face, doesn't mean I'm dead." She said, crossing her arms and pouting. Double-D came up behind her, "Emma, manners! Good morning, gentlemen, can we help you with something?"

Noah and Rolf held up a large snake skin, and nod. Double-D and Emma ushered them inside to the kitchen. The kitchen table is covered in books, the ones on top are filled with pictures of snakes.

"So, you too, have seen the oversized serpent?"

"In a way…" Double-D said, rubbing the back of his head, "Emma had a dream about a snake fighting against a couple of bears and she wanted to know more about the snake she dreamed about." Emma pointed to a picture of a green python, "This is the one I had a dream about, I called him Jormungard."

"The World Serpent?" Noah asked, tossing the skin on the table, much to Double-D's dismay. Emma took a closer look at the skin, noticing the scratch and small black letters on the skin.

"Hey! This is Jormungard's skin!" Emma cried.

"Huh?" the men said in unison. "Look!" she told them, pointing to the smudge, "It says Jormungard right there!" She was right, in small black letters it said, "Jormundgard."

"If you're looking for Jormungard, you can definitely count me in!" Emma cried.

"No, Emma, it's too dangerous."

"Please, Double-D, I _know_ this snake, I really do, and you saw how much I knew about snakes earlier! _Please_?"

He hesistated, "I don't know."

"Rolf has gathered the others." Rolf informed him, "Snake-lover Emma-girl could be useful, yes?"

"Yes!" Emma replied. Double-D scrunched up his face, but relented, "Alright, but be careful, alright? If what you've said is true and this snake skin is real, we're dealing with a snake nearly fifteen feet long."

"Fifteen feet, ten inches." Emma corrected. The men stared at her, "What, I said I know this snake." She reminded them. "And Double-D, I'd be more nervous about what attacked Jormungard then Jormungard himself." She said, indicating the claw mark. "The girl from my dream had two bears, both were pretty vicious." She said. "And that was when they were cubs, I'd hate to see them all grown up."


	9. Chapter 9

Everyone was already there waiting for Noah, Rolf, Double-D and Emma just outside the forest. Double-D had his messenger's bag with his and Emma's notebooks and the book with the snake picture so they'd know what to look for as well as the skin to help show the size. He also managed to shove several walkie talkies in there, since he noticed his cell phone was on the fritz this morning and figured that whoever cut the phone lines were also blocking their cell phones somehow. Emma's words from before they left still bothered him, "Double-D, I'd be more nervous about what attacked Jormungard then Jormungard himself."

Emma explained to the men on the way that in her dream, she remembered that she had actually had the giant snake since it was an egg, the egg itself was given to her by Doug because he was too busy to play with her because he was busy "training." Emma couldn't recall what the training was for or why he had to do it so often, but it was still bothersome to say the least. Double-D kept asking her questions, trying to get as much information as possible as he jotted everything down, Emma would show him things from her notebook and explain what she could remember, shocking Double-D to no end.

Noah and Rolf were also shocked, but they remained silent, soaking in all the information. Before they got there, Double-D took Noah and Rolf to the side and asked them to keep the information to themselves until they found the snake. When Rolf asked why, Double-D said, "I have a bit more information that helps shape Emma's story, but we need someone to help fill in the gaps, I think this bear girl can do just that. But we shouldn't tell everyone that the forest is full of violent bears when we have no definite proof, so we'll ask everyone to bring weapons to protect themselves in case the snake is irritable, we leave out the bears."

The men nodded, Rolf looked pretty nervous, but then again bears were the thing he feared most, but he was still determined to help find the large snake that snuck into his barn last night. When they arrived, Eddy asked, "So what's all this crap about a giant snake?"

"Jormungard." Emma said.

"Bless you." Said Ed.

"Thanks Ed, but I didn't sneeze, that's the snake's name, Jormungard. Apparently he's my snake." Everyone gave her blank looks, "What?" she asked, "a girl can't have a pet snake?"

"No it's just, what would you name a snake that?"

"Jormungard, you know, the World Serpent?" she specified, "Son of Loki, bites it's own tail, Nordic Mythology?" She looked into the confused crowd, face palmed and said, "It's a famous big snake okay? I was six. Anyway, Jormungard is pretty big, so it should be pretty easy to find him."

"How big are we talking?" Kevin asked. Double-D pulled the folded skin out and, with Rolf and Noah's help, rolled it onto the ground, everyone's jaw dropped.

"Approximately fifteen feet and ten inches long." Emma replied cheerfully, "And since he's been recently injured, I'd recommend some sort of weapon because he will _not_ be in a good mood."

"You had a snake this big and your parents were cool with that?" Nazz asked, shocked.

Emma shrugged, "I guess." She said, re-rolling the snake skin and putting it into Double-D's bag.

"I vote that when we find her parents, we have a party at her house!" Paul cried. A few of the others chuckled and nodded.

"Anyway…" Double-D said, silencing the chuckling "It's a green python," he showed the picture to everyone, " As Emma said, it's been hurt recently, so if you find blood, you're probably close, also according to Emma, Rolf and Noah, he also has a lot of scars so that should help you find him."

"Also, he likes pork, so if you have any pork products on you, I'd run home and put it away." Emma informed them, everyone looked at her funny until Noah and Rolf began to walk home.

"Where are you going?" Jonny asked.

"To put the products of swine at home where the serpent cannot get it." Noah replied.

Everyone looked back at Emma, "What?" she said, "They smelled like bacon." She then looked at Zoe, "Eat it or throw it away." She said. Zoe pulled a cooked piece of bacon from her pocket, "Fine." She said, when everyone looked at her, she simply said, "What? I didn't finish breakfast."

"How'd you know that she had some too, I mean, Rolf and his father I understand, but Zoe?" Double-D asked.

"It's Zoe." She said plainly, "I'm surprised it's just bacon in there."

"Okay! Fine! I get it! Stop interrogating me already!" Zoe cried, pulling out some breakfast sausages out of her pocket and shoving them into her mouth, "Happy now?" she asked, her mouth full of food.

"Happy? No. Grossed out that you had those in your pocket the whole time and just ate them? Yes." Emma said. The others nodded in agreement.

Once Rolf and his father got back, with Julian the bull in tow along with several llamas and tools they could use as weapons, Double-D began writing everyone's names on slips of paper and Marie lent him her hat to put them in. May began upchucking weapons for the others, Emma declined the offer, "It's my snake, so I don't need a weapon, thank you though." She said. Once everyone but Emma was armed, Double-D spoke to the group, "Alright, now since it's a big enough area, we're going to get into groups. We'll go in groups of four and each group will have a walkie talkie. If you find the snake, tell us where you found him and we'll meet up there, then we'll see if Emma can keep him under control until we figure out what to do with him."

"I can keep him under control." Emma assured him.

"Alright then," he began pulling out names and calling them out.

The first group was Noah, Rachel, Nazz and Kyle. The second group was Emma, Paul, Ed, and Eddy. The third group was Zoe, Lee, Double-D and Rolf. The fourth was Jenna, Marie, Jimmy and Kevin. And the last group was Sarah, May, Jonny and Plank. Double-D told them which area each group should look in and passed around the walkie-talkies as they mounted their llamas.

"Alright, we'll meet here in three hours if no one has found him." Double-D finished pointing to the meeting point on a map, "And remember to be careful! Jormungard is a big, wounded python."

"He likes it when his belly's scratched." Emma said, trying to be helpful.

"Hopefully not from the inside" Kevin commented, Jenna elbowed him with a "Shh!"

"Sparky likes that too!" Zoe cried.

The teams made their way into the forest nervously except for Emma and Zoe, who were excited about the snake hunt and skipped into the forest. Emma and Paul made up a chant to keep their spirits up, "Search-Par-Tee-in-PC! Search-Part-Tee-in-PC! JORMUNGARD WHERE CAN YOU BE?" However, after a while, everyone started to get annoyed and Kevin told them to shut the fuck up.

After about an hour, Emma's group decided to stop and rest, actually it was more like they saw a stream and the four of them decided to take off their shoes and stick their feet in it to cool them off while the llamas drank up stream. Emma found an arrow head and showed the others.

"Seriously, you're like a female clone of Double-D." Eddy said.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Emma said, "And even if I am, how is that a bad thing?"

The walkie talkie buzzed before Eddy could answer, "This is Double-D, anything to report? Over." he asked.

Ed picked up the walkie and pressed the button, "Yeah, Emma's snake is good at hide and seek. Over."

"That's probably for the best," Emma said, "He's probably being hunted."

"Hunted by what?" Ed asked.

"Trained bears."

"BEARS!" Sarah's voice cried, "YOU HAVE US FUMBLING IN THE WOODS WITH BEARS TO LOOK FOR YOUR STUPID SNAKE!"

"Emma!" Double-D cried.

"What? Ed left his finger on the button."

"Dumbass." Eddy said.

"And, besides we _are_ fumbling around in the woods with bears. We need to find Jormungard, and it's not just because he's my snake, Sarah. I think he has something important, something so important that they'd send killer bears after him."

"Woah, so you're telling me that there are trained killer bears in here looking for this snake." Rachel asked.

"He's my friend." She said into the walkie talkie, "He's my friend and he needs our help. I have a feeling that he has this thing that will help me remember everything or at the very least help me put the pieces together so things make sense. I don't know what he has or if just seeing him will help me remember, but we _need_ to help him. I understand if you guys wanna go home... But I'm not leaving without him." There was silence for a while then Zoe said, "I'm still in."

"Me too." Said Double-D.

"You have the Son of a Sheppard to help you as well, Emma-girl." Rolf said.

"I'm not going back through the woods on my own so I guess I'm still in." Lee answered.

"We're still in too," Marie informed them.

"Us too, dudes." Nazz said.

"You can count on us!" Jonny called cheerfully. Emma looked around her at Ed, Eddy and Paul.

"Ed is in." Ed declared.

"I'm not gonna leave you hanging, MM." Paul said fist bumping her.

"And I'm not heading back empty handed." Eddy said, "Looks like we're all still with you, Emma."

"Thanks everyone." She said, her eyes welling up.

"Aw, don't cry, Emma." Ed said, patting her on the head.

"I'm not crying." Emma fibbed, wiping at her eyes.

"Aww, MM is getting all emotional." Paul teased. Laughter could be heard through the walkies, until it was cancelled out with a high pitched scream. Ed stood up immediately, "BABY SISTER!" he cried into the device.

"Hello." A woman greeted in a Russian accent, Emma recognized it immediately, "Ivanna." She growled, remembering the fat pimpled girl from her dream.

"Av, how sveet of you to remember."

"Kak ya mogu zabyt; tebya zhinaya zadnitsa?" (How could I forget you, fat-ass?) Emma hissed back.

"What did she just say?" Eddy asked, Paul and Ed shrugged.

"Your Russian still is needing vork."

"Yeshche luchshe, chem, svoy angliskiy." (Still better than your English)

"Perhaps," Ivanna relented, "Hovever, I still have business with that snake, you can have it after I'm done, if your still alive." Then the walkie talkie went fuzzy and followed by silence.

"Eto urodlivyy zhir suka!" (that ugly, fat bitch!) shouted Emma.

"Hey, MM, since when do you know Russian?"

"I dunno. Apparently I've spoke it since I was six." Emma said. Another scream from Sarah.

"SAR…!" Ed began to shout, but Emma cut him off and motioned for Paul and Eddy to keep him quiet. They obliged, Emma licked her finger and closed her eyes, another scream. Emma opened her eyes, "I know which way." Emma said, then dashed off, Ed, Eddy and Paul right behind her on their llamas, pulling hers along with them.

Double-D looked at the walkie talkie, "We can't use these anymore." He said. Zoe, Lee and Rolf nodded in agreement, Double-D dismounted his llama and began to pace, his index fingers massaging his temples.

"I hope Sarah's okay." Zoe said, "even though she can be a bossy buzz kill, this Ivanna doesn't sound too good."

"What was she even saying?" Lee said, "That girl said she was speaking Russian, but there's no way…"

"Emma told us that she apparently has been able to speak Russian since she was six." Double-D explained.

"Us?"

"Rolf and Noah know about some of it." Double-D said, pulling out her notebook, "I think I'm gonna read this, it might fill in some gaps." He said, "I feel bad about reading her notebook, but, we need answers." He opened it and gasped at the first page. It was a drawing of Emma sobbing and begging as a woman was whipping a woman who looked like his mother while a bear was biting her legs, while a big heavy man with a scar down his face was skinning a man that looked like his father, his skin coming off in one long strand of skin, kind of like how someone might peel an apple, and a guy in a mask and red jump suit was beating the crap out of Double-D and was getting ready to cut him in half with a sword, a figure in a throne and another beside it, soaking it all in, the one in the throne had a white smile that, even on paper, made Double-D shudder. The next page described in great detail what happened in the first dream she had while staying with him. He could see why she was crying.

"Whoa." Lee gasped, "This is some messed up stuff."

"Rolf has never seen such horrors written in a child's print." Rolf said.

"Why would she have such horrible nightmares?" Zoe said, concerned.

"Because of the past she ran away from." Double-D said coolly, turning the pages until it got to the second dream, a drawing of a burning room and a mysterious man was strangling a woman, the description went on to say that Doug had held her back as the woman changed into every person she met in Peach Creek as the man literally squeezed the life out of her. As well as her drawing of the man with the long scar from before in more detail, underneath it said "Not good." As the four of them flipped through her notebook, more things began to add up, he pulled out his own book and began writing down all the new information. His hand pulsed with pain as he finally finished another page's worth of information and turned the page of her journal to this morning's entry. Double-D read through it again, just in case, it was as she told them, however there was one thing she hadn't said, she wrote down a small question in the margin of the journal, "Why did I write Jormungard's name on his body (the writing on the shedded skin looks like my handwriting)?" Double-D looked at those words then his eyes widened.

"Lee, Zoe, do either of you two have a smart phone?" He asked, pulling out the snake skin, "I need you to download an app for me…"

Rachel looked at her phone again, staring at the picture of Doug she took last week. "I know him" Emma had said, absolutely sure of her words. "I have a little sister, too." Doug had told Double-D, then he seemed to chuckle as Emma struggled to cut his food normally like he had asked, as if he _knew_ she couldn't do it, he then looked worried and upset when her hand had been burned, he looked almost _guilty_. She remembered his expression when he learned that Emma had lost all her memories, it wasn't pitiful or worried, it was crushed and heartbroken. "I know him." Emma said.

How _did_ they know each other? She wondered.

"Rachel? You okay?" Nazz asked, looking very concerned and worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, shoving her phone in her pocket, "How are you, I mean, Jonny was in that group, right?" Nazz stiffened and nodded, rubbing her arm nervously, "If Sarah's still screaming, then that means that they're alive, so I'm okay for now, but I'm worried about them. You don't think they'd hurt them, do you?"

"I don't know. I think the only one who can answer that is Emma." Rachel looked at Kyle.

"Hey Kyle, has Emma ever talked about her past with you? The parts she remembers, I mean?" Kyle seemed taken aback by her question, he then sat on his llama, contemplating. "Emma never really talked about her past, once she said that she lost her memory, we didn't really want to push her to recall anything. She seemed really nervous when we couldn't get out of town though, the people who told us the roads we closed seemed to have something against her, the first one did the classic," he pulled his thumb over his throat, "'You're dead' sign. It really seemed to freak her out, but then again, that guy was pretty scary. Weirdly enough, he wasn't all that scary at first, not until he saw Emma… It was almost as if they recognized each other…"

Rachel looked at Noah, who seemed to shift too much on Julian's back. He didn't look at them, he kept looking straight ahead, silently soaking everything in.

"You know something, don't you?" Rachel asked, "About all this. About Emma."

The Sheppard sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "The Double-D-Ed-boy asked us not to speak of it until the serpent has been found, but…" he shook his head, "We are all in danger, yes? So I shall tell you all I know about White-As-Snow-Emma-girl." He took a deep breath, "Where to begin?" he sighed.

Marie sat there on her llama, staring at the walkie talkie, shocked and speechless. Ever since Emma's last Russian statement, the small device in her hand had been silent and her cell phone had no reception anywhere. Jimmy looked to Jenna and Kevin, "Sarah and the others are going to be okay, right?"

Jenna and Kevin looked at one another unsure what to say.

"I hope so, Jimmy." Kevin said, "But with the way that girl and Emma were talking to each other, it seems like there is some bad blood between them, I'm not sure of anything right now." Jimmy sniffled a bit, Jenna urged her llama close to his and comforted him as he began to cry. Marie pressed the button on the walkie-talkie, "Muffin? You there?" There was a pause before Double-D's voice came over through the speakers, "Yes, Marie, I'm here. Is everything okay?"

"You know it's not." She said, a small relieved smile on her face after hearing his voice. "Do you think that May, Sarah, and Jonny will be okay?" There was another pause, "Emma, I read your notebook, I'm sorry to be so intrusive, but would it be alright for me to tell them everything you recorded before I tell them all what I know?" Another pause, Eddy's voice came through on the radio, "Emma's tracking where they took the others, so I'm sending Paul up to ask her. Ed's kind of an emotional wreck right now, So hang on Sock head, we've got to talk to your sister." After a what felt like hours, Paul's voice came over the speakers, "MM said it's okay, and that she owes you what little information she can remember for getting us mixed up in this, she also said she'd keep you informed if she remembers anything else. Oh and she advised that everyone to keep moving, and to take deep breaths, staying in one place and panicking will only make it easier for them to find us. So, go for it, DD. We're all listening."

When Sarah saw the bear, she peed herself. At first she was so embarrassed and felt so bad for the poor llama she had just peed on, but those thoughts were quickly gone when she saw two more bears blocking their way out. May had fallen off her llama and it had ran away, leaving her behind. Jonny and Plank weren't doing so hot either, Jonny had gotten swiped by one of the bear's long powerful claws on his back and, although the wound didn't seem too deep, he was still bleeding pretty badly. May and Sarah were now tied back-to-back on Sarah's pissed off and pee-covered llama while Jonny was slumped over his own llama, trying to stop the bleeding by pressing Plank against his bloody back. There was a bear in front of them and a bear behind them, but behind the bear in back was a young woman who had to be in her late teens or early twenties, she had a scar over her right eye. She wore a long bear fur coat, which had to be hot as all hell, but she neither complained nor did she sweat. Under the coat was some sort of purple and black dress that stopped a few inches from her hips. The dress clung to her thin frame, she wore high-heeled black boots that came up to the end of her dress and matching gloves that went up to her elbows. She held a whip that looked like it was made out of purple barbed wire and ninja throwing stars. She looked pleased with herself.

"Umm…" Sarah began.

"SPEAK UP!" the woman demanded with a crack of her whip, "You vittle girls alvays talk like mice."

"Who are you?" Sarah squeaked.

"Me?" The woman beamed, "I am Ivanna, master assassin and the youngest in my family to raise murderous bears vho vill kill vhoever I tell them too!" Ivanna then went on and on about how awesome she was.

"She's also the most _annoying_ assassin in the whole wide world." Emma muttered from up a tree, "I kind of miss not remembering her now, guys, she just never _shuts up_." Paul, Ed and Eddy were on lower branches, trying to reach her.

"Emma, _focus_!" Eddy said, pulling himself up, "Try to remember everything you can about her."

"Why? She's monologuing now. We could just sit here and listen to her and… okay, yeah, I see your point." She stared at the annoying assassin, wincing as memories flooded back, she motioned for Eddy to give her the walkie. Eddy, Paul and Ed finally managed to make it up to her branch, Eddy handed her the device. She pressed the button and spoke into the device.

"Okay, everyone, I want you to listen to me very carefully, because it's possible that you'll need every bit of information I'm about to give you so we can all get out of this alive." She said plainly, "Okay, first thing about her is while she's very powerful, she also is very proud and boastful, so Sarah did the smart thing by asking who she was. Normally she'd notice someone this close, but she's so freaking vain, she's too busy talking about herself that she doesn't even notice us. But," she turned to Ed, "Ed, I'm going to explain what Ivanna normally does at this point, I need you to stay calm and resist the urge to do something crazy and stupid to try and save your sister and your girlfriend, okay? The only thing that will do is put them in more danger as well as putting your own life at risk. Right now, you just need to take in this information and help us think of a way to save them, okay?" Ed nodded stiffly, his fists were so bloodless and white from crushing the tree as he clung to it that they could have been Emma's hands.

"Okay everyone, here's what I know, Ivanna's style is to use her bears to gather everyone in a certain area, I'll assume in this case it's this forest, to a spot where she can watch them all freak out before she kills them one by one. If she thinks someone is not enough of a challenge for her, she feeds them to her blood thirsty bears, if she believes you would be a good opponent, she will challenge you to a fight to the death. So first things first, don't get caught by any of her bears. Second thing, I just remembered how many bears she has."

"How many?" Zoe asked.

"Way too many. Sheesh, this girl keeps bears the way desperate single women keep cats…"

"Emma, focus." Eddy said, "we're kind of hiding for our lives here."

"Sorry, anyway, each bear has a special tracking chip in it, so she knows where each bear is, she also knows if the bears are stressed out, like if their fighting and stuff, so don't try to fight the bears, because even if you somehow manage to defeat one, two more will pop up in it's place and you'll have one less limb when they drag your butt to join those guys down there. If a bear finds you, split up. If you split up it will take longer for them to capture all of us, thus increasing the chances we get out of this alive because she doesn't start killing until she is sure she is sure she has captured all possible witnesses. Also she hates me, so if you need to stall, complain about me, considering what I can remember about our history, you'll be good for at least a year. Also, her right eye is her weak spot, so you're welcome."

"Huh?" Paul asked.

"She tried to kill my snake after it had just hatched, so I beat her in the face with her own whip." Emma smiled at that, "But that's what she gets for picking on a six year old."

"I don't know what is more horrible about that statement." Jenna said.

"She's trying to kill us, I'm allowed to feel good about weakening her." Emma snapped.

"Ladies, can we please focus?" Paul said, "I don't wanna die."

"Fine." Emma said, "Although what I'd give right now to beat her up with her own stupid whip." She muttered.


	10. Chapter 10

Ivanna kept going on and on, boring them with her narcissism, then Sarah noticed a white figure in the distance, she squinted to see better. It was Emma! She stared at her, 'why aren't you coming to help us?' she thought. Then Emma started waving her arms, Ivanna noticed Sarah staring and saw Emma too, she smiled.

"Hello, Beatrice." She purred darkly. 'What kind of name is Beatrice?' Sarah thought. Ivanna whistled and three bears appeared, "bring me the traitor and vhoevers vith her. I'll kill everyone of these people she so desperately cares for right in front of her eyes."

"Darn it Sarah!" Emma spat as soon as she saw Ivanna smile, she pressed the button on the walkie talkie, "Double-D, we've been made. I'm gonna lure them away, the guys are gonna stay here and wait until the bears have moved and keep an eye on where they're moving." She handed it to Eddy, "Are you crazy?" he asked, "Those bears'll murder you." Double-D was yelling through the walkie about how Emma "WILL NOT USE YOURSELF AS BAIT TO LURE A SLEUTH OF BEARS, MISSY!"

"Sloth?" Ed asked, confused.

"It's what you call a group of bears, Ed." Emma explained. "And I was trained to be an assassin, Eddy, I think I can handle a couple bears. You stay and find out where Ivanna's taking them." Suddenly she heard a whistle, "Their coming…" she looked to Eddy, Ed, and Paul, "Stay!" she said. Then she ran towards the end of the branch, the boys called for her, panicked at her sudden dash. To their surprise, Emma landed to the branch of another tree with ease, almost as if she was used to it.

"OI IVANNA!" Emma shouted, "COME AND GET ME, MISS I HAVE TO WAX OFF MY MUSTACHE EVERY TWO DAYS!" she shouted as she ran across that tree, leaping on branches and swinging on vines like a monkey farther from the boys. "MISS I HAVE BUTT ACNE!" she continued, "MISS I CAN'T EVEN GET A DATE ONLINE!" Emma heard the bears stampede towards her voice as she put more distance between herself and the guys.

Eddy looked at the walkie, "Double-D, she's already left to lure the bears."

"IS SHE INSANE?" Double-D screeched into the phone.

"She said she was trained to be an assassin, Double-D, and that she could handle a couple bears. I believe her. And honestly, she's kind of dashing through the trees like a ninja, so yeah, I think she'll get away. Plus if that girl's ego is as big as she claims, I think Emma's saving our butts here by running around screaming insults, I mean, if you hear Emma getting closer, get out of the way… Plus it's kinda funny." He said.

"OH IVANNA WAS COVERED IN PIMPLES, THAT LOOKED LIKE THIRD NIPPLES THAT COVERED HER HAIRY BACK! SO SHE WASHED THEM AND POKED THEM AND CLEARACEL SOAKED UM, BUT WHEN GUYS SEE HER SHE STILL MAKES THEM GO ACK!" Emma sang loudly as she leapt through the branches.

Marie couldn't help but giggle from the mean things Emma was screaming about this Ivanna chick as she ran through the forest. "Eddy's got a point muffin, she's kind of like a advanced warning for incoming bears… Plus it _is_ pretty funny…" She suddenly heard a roar and a scream, she turned to see a bear had cornered Jimmy and Jenna. Kevin ran towards them to help but Marie shouted, "NO! DON'T FIGHT IT AND SPLIT UP, REMEMBER?" But Kevin ignored her racing towards it, his bat raised, only for Marie to shout, "HEY BEAR, OVER HERE!" And wave her arms, "COME AND GET ME!" she challenged, then dashed away, the bear right behind her, leaving the rest of them to run away. The bear crushed everything that stood in it's path as it chased her, she was slowing down. She suddenly wished she had listened to Double-D and just quit smoking. She tripped and fell, turning to see the bear was right on top of her, ready to crush her or drag her back. "Muffin?" she called into the walkie just as the bear roared.

"MARIE!" she heard him cry thorough the walkie. Just when the bear rose it's mighty paw to swat at her, a humongous green snake came out of nowhere, breaking it's neck with its mighty jaws with a loud, sickening SNAP! That echoed through the trees. "MARIE!" Rachel called. "MARIE!" Her sister, Lee, sobbed. "MARIE ARE YOU THERE? MARIE!" Double-D cried into the walkie, as the snake released the limp creature from it's mouth and looked at Marie, she froze. It slithered toward her and she winced as it flicked it's tongue at her face. Then it did the strangest thing, it _nuzzled_ her. Marie took a shaking hand and scratched it near it's belly, the snake hissed approvingly and nuzzled her some more. "I'm okay, Muffin… actually, I'm better then okay… I think I found Jormungard." She said breathlessly.

"EVERYONE THINKS THAT IVANNA STINKS LIKE A PIECE OF ROTTEN CHEESE!" Emma screamed, "BUT ME I SAY, IT'S OKAY, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T BREATHE!" she noticed Marie was alone with a giant snake, she wished she could throw her voice or something to see if they were okay, then when she sang the next voice, it came from ahead, "IVANNA'S BREATH SMELLS LIKE A SEWER! IVANNA'S BREATH SMELLS LIKE DECAY!" Emma smiled as she discovered her talent for throwing her voice. "IVANNA'S BREATH SMELLS LIKE THE FIFTY FUZZY MOLDY PIZZAS SHE HAD JUST YESTERDAY!" she said even farther. She leapt down beside Marie and the snake, who at the sight of Emma, rushed to her and nuzzled her, "Down boy," Emma whispered, scratching under his chin, she pushed Marie down as a stampede of bears dashed past them, she threw her voice further down in the direction they were going, "FUZZY WUZZY WAS A BEAR! FUZZY WUZZY HAD NO HAIR! YET HE STILL COULD CATCH ME, YOU STUPID LOSERS! HA HA HA HA HA!" The bears surged forward, angry at her insult.

"You can throw your voice? Marie asked, still pressing the button on the walkie

"Apparently." She said with a shrug, then smiled, "I'm glad you're okay," she glanced around, "Where is everyone else?" Jimmy's scream echoed through the forest.

"The rest of your group was over there, weren't they?" Emma said, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

"Yeah, a bear found us," Marie indicated the dead bear on the ground, "Jormungard helped me with this one, but they were still there."

"And I stupidly led them to Jimmy, Jenna and Kevin." Emma said bitterly, "Great… I'm so _helpful_." She berated herself.

"Look, you came to see if I was okay," Marie said, then Eddy's voice came over the walkie, "Good to know your alive, Em."

"Thanks, how's Ed?" she asked.

"Paul and I are trying to keep him from running in to save them."

"Put the walkie near his ear."

"Okay. It's there."

"Ed, do you know what Ivanna's gonna do when she catches everyone? She's going to kill you one by one and make me watch before I'm killed." She paused for a second then asked him, "Do you know why she'd do that?"

"Because she's a bitch?" Rachel replied.

"Well, yeah." Emma agreed, "But it's also because she knows you all are important to me. It's a tactic she adores, if you need intel from the person you're supposed to kill, you use the people most important to them. No one wants to see someone they care about die because of them. It's even better if you want to torture someone while adding to the body count. She'll make sure I feel horrible that I couldn't save you before I die. If you go down there without a plan, not only will she kill you, she will _rip one of your limbs off in front of your girlfriend and sister, make them beg and plead to leave you alone. Then she'll make_ _you watch as she murders your little sister and your girlfriend. She will watch as you cry and scream and beg to spare them and she will laugh at you until she kills you, too_. Don't go down there yet. I'll take care of her, okay? Then you can tear her bears apart and save them, but right now you need to stay calm, Ed. I know you hate this, trust me, there's nothing I'd like more then for you to go all Chuck Norris on Ivanna's big ugly butt, but _please_. The best thing you can do right now is track them, find where she keeps them and make sure not to get caught, I'm sending Marie and Jorry to find Double-D, if you see them, join them, everyone, watch out for Marie and Jorry, when you see them, join them, Jorry can take out any of these bears with ease, if there are too many, split up and find Jorry again. I'll take out Ivanna.

"Av, that's so sveet." Ivanna said into the walkie, "But I've already captured another group, Beatrice." Jenna was swearing at her in the background while Jimmy sobbed and Kevin groaned in pain. Marie felt awful for leaving her group behind to get grabbed by bears.

"That's not my name, Ivanna!" Emma snapped into the walkie.

"But that's not all ve've got." She said. Two new voices came from the device, "Somebody! Help! This woman is crazy."

"Father?" Double-D asked, horrified.

"Eddward? Is that you? Are you alright?"

"Mother?"

Marie and Emma looked at each other. Emma screamed angrily into the device, "YESLI VAN VRED LYUBYUM IZ NIKH YA SDELAYU VAS ZHAL', CHTO YA UBIL VAS S VASHIM SOBSTVENNYM GREBANYY KNUTOM SHEST' LET NAZAD, ZHIRNAYA ZADNITSA!" (IF YOU HARM ANY OF THEM, I WILL MAKE YOU WISH I MURDERED YOU WITH YOUR OWN FUCKING WHIP SIX YEARS AGO, FAT ASS!)

"Yes, vell, I'm planning to kill them so that's technically not harming them." Emma froze for a second, stunned by the stupidity of Ivanna's words.

"Wow." Emma said, "That's probably the stupidest statement I've ever… just WOW."

"Vhat?"

"That was just so stupid…"

"AHHH!" Eddy cried into the walkie.

"EDDY!" Double-D and Lee cried.

"That's another group down, Beatrice."

Rachel and Nazz's screams could be heard through the forest, a man's shout echoed through the forest.

"Papa!" Rolf cried.

"And another, hov does it feel, to come to try and save them only to lead them to their ovn demise?"

Emma's whole body shook with rage, but she took a deep breath and said, "Hey, Ivanna."

"Vhat?"

"How's that hemorrhoid of yours doing? Still the size of a man hole cover or has your butt grown bigger since then?" Marie chuckled despite herself.

"I am going to enjoy killing you." Ivanna growled.

"And I'm going to enjoy giving you a swirly in the massacred guts of your stupid bears." Emma seethed, feeling the plastic crack a little in her clenched fist.

"Double-D, destroy the walkie, I'll take Marie and Jorry to you guys and we'll find the others, release them, then we'll take Ivanna and her stupid bears out together." She stopped pressing the button and looked to Marie, "Marie, you have anything of Double-D's that Jorry can use to find him and the others?"

Marie patted herself down, "No… but what about your hat? It was his, right?"

"Yeah," Emma said, taking off her hat and letting Jorry sniff it, Marie gasped at the scar on Emma's head, "Emma…" Emma noticed where she was looking and smiled meekly, "It doesn't hurt anymore, Marie, I'm fine. Besides, we've got bigger problems to worry about then my scar." She looked at her snake "Got the scent, boy?" The snake nodded, Emma put her hat back on, "Good, take Marie to Double-D then find the others being held captive, I'll meet you there, okay?" The snake nodded then jabbed it's tongue in the air and began to slither away, Marie hugged her, "Be safe, Emma." She then followed Jormungard into the forest. Emma walked towards where she heard Jimmy scream and found bits of blood. Emma turned on the walkie, "Hey Ivanna? Can you ask Kevin, what part of 'don't attack them' did he clearly not get?" There was silence for a bit before Ivanna told her that "He says 'shut the fuck up'."

"I think he was talking to you, Ivanna." Emma said, looking around for any kind of discarded weapon, she found nothing. "Great." She said. A roar came from behind her, "Oh COME ON!" Emma shouted, then ran, "FREAKING BEARS!" as the bear roared behind her, easily catching up. Emma grabbed an empty bottle someone had thrown into the brush and threw it at the bear's head. Glass shattered and the bear cried out in pain as the glass embedded itself into it's eyes and nose and mouth, cutting it's face.

"Vhat did you just do to my bear, Beatrice!"

"You keep saying that name," Emma said, running up a tree and pushing off so she could kick the bear in the face, further embedding the glass into the creature, "But I think you're talking to the wrong person."

"I knov _exactly _vho I'm talking to, you little brat!"

"Then '_vhy_' don't you enlighten everyone else then?" Emma said, grabbing a branch and using it as a bat to smash the bear's head against the tree, knocking it out.

"Vine. I vill."

"Fine." Emma corrected again, "Code 12, woman learn some Code 2 _English_ already."'

"Code 12?" Ivanna asked, "Code 2?"

"When Zoe and I come to kick your butt, she'll translate."

"Code 12 is 'God dammit.'" Zoe said into the walkie. "And code 2 is 'fucking'."

"Zoe! Destroy that walkie-talkie! Destroy that right now!" Emma scolded into the device.

"Okay, DESTROYING THINGS!" she shouted as a loud screeching sound hit the speakers on Emma's end. Emma winced and heard another roar, "You've _got_ to be kidding me." She ran away from the bear shouting, "CODE 3! CODE 3! CODE 3!"

"Well, I guess you two made that code, huh?" Lee asked.

"Code?" Double-D and Rolf asked in unison.

"Yeah," Zoe explained, "Emma said she's not allowed to swear, so we made up a code so whenever she wants to swear, I can do it for her. Like, for example, Code 3 means 'Oh fuck!'"

The teens looked at her, stunned.

"We're still working on it." Zoe said with a shrug.

"I see." Double-D said, a little upset that Emma would come up with a code for swearing, but he was more worried about his friends and his parents. How did his parents even _get_ out here, he hadn't left a note or anything for them to know where they were or anything, so how did Ivanna manage to find them?

"Hey, Guys!" Marie called, waving as she reunited with the few members of this search party that weren't held captive by evil bears. Lee hugged her sister, "I thought you were a goner earlier!" Lee cried, "What was all that about earlier?"

"I was trying to lure a bear away from the others, you know, Emma's 'split up if found plan'? But I fell, luckily Jorry saved me before the bear got to me."

"Jorry?" Rolf asked. Just then Jormungard coiled up near Double-D and flicked his tongue at his hat, then nuzzled the nervous man.

"Jormungard?" Double-D asked, the snake nodded and held it's head up proudly.

"MOST WICKED!" Zoe cried, running over to scratch the snake's belly, "I was _so_ right to choose Emma as my BFF! Because only my BFF can have a cool pet like this!" Jormungard nuzzled her and gave her a lick on the cheek, Zoe giggled.

"White-as-a-Turnip-Emma girl's serpent is very tame, yes?" Rolf said, carefully petting it, Jormungard hacked up a fox that Rolf recognized as the one who had opened the hen house and let the chicken out the day before. The chicken that would go on to get Emma's hand burnt. Double-D cried "Good Lord!" while Lee and Marie looked at it, disgusted. Zoe cried, "Most Wicked! What else have you got in there?" Rolf smiled at the snake. "Thank you for ridding the Son of a Sheppard of that fowl snatching pest, World Serpent." Jormungard bowed it's head, then hacked up several weapons that were well bagged up, including a gun. Each weapon was in perfect condition and had the name, 'Beatrice' engraved on it. The teens picked them up in disgust while Zoe just beamed with pride, "Only my best friend would hide her awesome weapons in there!" Jormungard hacked up three boxes, one full of bullets, another full of ninja stars and the last one was a first aid kit. Zoe picked up the box of ninja stars, her eyes wide with glee, "BEST BFF EVER!" she squealed.

"Yes, well, we're lucky Emma and Jormungard were smart to have back up supplies."

Double-D said, picking up the gun and bullets and shoving them into his bag, then the first aid kit and pulled out some bandages and began wrapping Jormungard's wound. Once Double-D had finished, Jormungard gently wrapped around him and squeezed a bit.

"Aw." Zoe said, "He's giving you a hug." Double-D smiled, a little nervously, "I see, well thank you Jormungard." Jormungard then slithered off him and hacked up a bagged up tape recorder. Double-D ran to it and pulled it out of the bag, ignoring the snake spit on his hands, and pressed play with his clean one.

"Hello. My name is Beatrice Vale." Emma's voice informed them in a hushed tone, "If you are listening to this, then something has probably happened to me or I have been killed and you have gained Jormungard's trust. I came to Peach Creek to stop an assassin guild, known as 'the Academy', from completely annihilating the entire town for it's traditional 'game.'" Emma's voice spat out the word game as if it was a bad taste in her mouth, "I'll ask you to listen closely and keep Jormungard close, he has their entire plan on his shoulders… well, I guess it's more like his back because snakes don't really have arms so I don't think they have shoulders… anyway, I guess I should explain _why_ Peach Creek was chosen over some other town…"

Emma was splattered with blood, breathing heavily. Her left arm was bleeding pretty bad from a scratch, she had a nasty-looking bite on her right leg, and she had small scratches on her neck, but she knew that they weren't all that deep and managed to tear the bottom of her shorts and t-shirt to make makeshift bandages for herself. She looked at the leftover bit of handle from a shovel she had managed to find where Noah, Rachel, Nazz and Kyle had been, then sighed and tossed it behind her, "Well, that's not gonna help." She said, then picked up the walkie-talkie from the ground, it too, was splattered with blood, "Hey Ivanna, is that all you've got?" she huffed, "Cause I could've sworn you had, like," Emma counted on her fingers for a few minutes, "Maybe… ten more bears? Or did I kill those too?"

"I VILL MURDER YOU, BEATRICE VALE!" Ivanna shouted, "I VILL AVENGE MY FALLEN ARMY!"

"My _name_ is Emma." She corrected, "And could you please shut up? I can't find you as well if you're shouting into the walkie, just shout into the air like you always do and I'll kick your Code 32 shortly."

"Code 32?"

"I'll give you a hint." Emma said, remembering the arrowhead she found earlier in her pocket, "It's another word for 'butt'."

(Hey guys, it's a ME! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but life happens, but I've got part 10 up and running. Just FYI, I have nothing against bears. I like bears. They were some of my favorite animals to see when I went to the zoo, they still are. But I also know they're very dangerous animals and, come on, a russian assassin chick with a whip is too easy, so I figured, 'hey why don't I give her an army of blood thirsty bears?' because how fucked would you be if someone was hunting you down with an army of bears? (hint: the answer is PRETTY FUCKED) anyway, you probably thought I forgot about the code because she was swearing in russian? NOPE! Emma didn't remember she could speak russian until that morning, so she didn't have time to add it to the code she and Zoe already had, that and she'd have to teach Zoe Russian to understand what she was saying and how to say to say the bad word in Russian. Any who, look forward to the next part, it'll be a little gory and violent, but hey, you've made it this far so _maybe_ you can handle it(?) )


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